


Across The Stars For You

by hazelnuthuntress



Series: Roar of a Lion [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Hunay, Kuron, Lotura - Freeform, kallura, lidge, notmyshiro, pance, pidgance, plance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:10:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 39,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13328391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelnuthuntress/pseuds/hazelnuthuntress
Summary: - posted on Wattpad under the same username-The paladins, after training hard for weeks, are ready to take on Prince Lotor. When they finally approach him in battle, things go horribly wrong and both Lance and Pidge crash onto a nearby planet called Shiza, where they meet two aliens named Aurora and Astrid. Weird thing is, Lance isn't flirting with them, and Pidge is grumpier than usual.[COMPLETE but UNEDITED]





	1. Pidge [edited]

 

"Hunk! I need backup!" My heart raced wildly in panic as my lion dove into space, surrounded by dozens of Galra fighters. My fingers shook as I jammed the control board, and beams of fire shot out of my lion and towards the fighters.

"Hang on, Pidge. I'm kind of in a bad spot," came the strained reply.

 _This is nothing, really._ My mind tried to calm me as I picked off the fighters slowly. I could see Hunk's yellow lion acting as a shield for Lance's red. Lance was struggling to gain control over the lion's speedy movements.

 _Nothing at all. We've got this. We can do it._ My attention jolted back to the scene surrounding the green lion, as the lion shook from impact with a fighter. Had I been _that_ distracted by the red paladin that I didn't notice I was blindly driving? _Stop it, Katie. There are more important things than boys right now._

The green lion slapped at a couple ships with its huge paws, and my stomach flipped in anticipation as I saw we were finally getting the winning hand. There were a few explosions nearby as other paladins successfully hit their targets. Hunk and Lance were teaming up to wipe out the ships surrounding them. Allura and Keith were somewhere out of my sight, but I could tell from their shouts of triumph that they were positively impacting the situation.

"Let's form Voltron and finish this off!" Keith said, his black lion coming into view.

"Guys... What's that?" Hunk asked nervously, and I looked around to see what he was talking about. A huge group of ships, bigger than the tiny Galra fighters, were heading straight towards us.

"Quick! We need to form Voltron, _now_!" Keith yelled urgently.

We rushed to bring our lions together, but the huge battleships started shooting in unison with huge laser beams.

"Agh!!" I yelled as a beam hit my lion and I went spiraling through space.

"Pidge!" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the red lion approaching. "Hold on, I'm coming."

"Look out! There's a ship behind you!" I attempted to gain control of the lion again.

"We have to get to safety, Pidge. We've all been split up."

The ship was gaining on us, and I recognized it as Prince Lotor's ship. _Oh,_ _quiznak_ _! We're in deep trouble now, and I think something's wrong with my lion._

The red lion flew past me towards the nearest planet. It was green and seemed to be covered in trees. "Follow me."

"Okay," I answered, still a little shaken from taking that hit. The green lion responded, following right on the tail of the red lion.

The atmosphere of the strange planet nearby us was covered in somewhat ice-like clouds. I could see a city in the horizon, the buildings reaching towards the sky.

"Lance, should we land nearby the city?"

"Good idea." His lion rocketed forward, and mine followed as we sped through the air and over the forests. I was afraid to look back and see if we were being followed.

"Okay, we're landing here. Try to keep your lion hidden in the shade." Lance's lion dove downwards and skillfully wove between trees.

My landing was a little rough, but I managed to park the lion under a huge tree.

Exiting my lion, I waited for Lance.

He strode out of his red lion confidently, running a hand through his dark, chocolatey hair.

 _His_ _confidence_ _certainly_ _has_ _improved_ _since_ _he_ _became_ _the_ _paladin_ _to_ _the_ _red_ _lion_ _two_ _years_ _ago_ _._

His crystalline blue eyes seemed to trap the sky in their hold. He looked around at the dense jungle we seemed to have landed in the middle of, and when he seemed satisfied with what he saw, his gaze turned to me.

"Is everything alright? You haven't been hurt, have you?" His eyes pooled with concern, from a friend to another. _And_ _nothing_ _more_ _._

I rubbed my elbows consciously, aware of his eyes flitting up and down my body. "Yeah. Just a bit shaken up, that's all. My lion, however... I think we should get that checked out."

"I think first we should find out where we are. We could be on a hostile planet," Lance suggested. He looked at me expectantly for approval, and I nodded without hesitation.

 _Why_ _does_ _Keith_ _have_ _to_ _be_ _the_ _leader_ _?_ _He_ _can_ _barely_ _control_ _his_ _own_ _emotions_ _,_ _let_ _alone_ _the_ _team_ _._ _Lance_ _would_ _be_ _so_ _much_ _better_ _in_ _that_ _position_ _._

The blue paladin whipped out his bayard, which turned into a blue and white gun. I did the same, pulling out a small triangular blade.

"I don't know what we'll meet out there, so keep a heads up. And if there are any branches in your way, just—" He made a wild slicing motion with his hands that hardly resembled a ninja, "—use that tiny green thing to cut 'em up."

I gave a small chuckle. Realizing I still had my helmet on, I took it off and rested it on my hip. A cool breeze hit my face, tossing my dark caramel hair around. Beads of sweat had collected on my forehead, but the sudden gush of air gave me goosebumps.

"Where do you think the other paladins are?" I asked, searching the skies through the thick canopy of leaves. The shadows dappled the ground like scattered puddles.

"I don't know, but I don't think anybody followed us here. We're all alone."

I don't know why the thought of being alone with Lance McClain on a strange planet made my heart jumpy. "I think my communications system was damaged in the battle."

"We can fix that, right, Pidge?" Lance asked, looking the slightest bit worried.

"Well, yeah... but to find all the parts and assemble them will take a couple of days at best," I said. Seeing his smile fade into a frown, I quickly added, "But that's no problem! That city over there looks pretty advanced. I'm sure somebody knows what they are doing."

"I hope so, Pidge, because we're here."

"Welcome to Shiza! We've been expecting you."

 


	2. Pidge [edited]

I turned toward the voice, and immediately, I gasped at the life forms before us.

Two tall, slender figures stood before us. They were well above Lance's height, maybe eight or nine feet. _I felt tremendously small._ Both looked like females. They both had dark skin, a long braid of thick, light-colored hair, double-tipped elfish ears, and feathers that extended from their behinds like coattails. Their arms and face were covered in feathers that matched their tails.

"Who are you, and how have you been expecting us?" Lance, drawing his weapon, asked with a threatening tone in his voice. "We've told _no one_ of our arrival."

The one who spoke had dark blue skin, pale green hair, and white feathers. Her light blue eyes penetrated Lance's thoughtfully. "We saw your lions and came out to meet you. We don't have tourists very often, so it would be our pleasure to house you and your mate during your stay."

"My _mate_?" Lance's eyes widened, and he glanced at me quickly.

The other Shizan, who had dark grey skin, pink hair, and magenta feathers, cocked her head in confusion. "It is customary that males and females travel together only if courting. Aren't you two courting?"

Lance stared at me a moment, as if he was trying to decide what to say.

_Well, of course he'd say no. He'd be out of his mind if he_ _said—_

"Yes. This is Pidge, my fiancée. My apologies for the confusion," Lance said, the thoughtful expression now replaced with one willing me to comply. "We would be grateful for your hospitality."

_Holy crow... that just happened._

"Great, you can follow us and we will lead you to our dwelling," the blue Shizan said, eyeing Lance and I carefully.

The blue and gray giants began to walk forward, and Lance hung back a little.

"Lance, what in the—" I whispered, before he clamped a hand over my mouth.

"I know, I know. I said that for a reason. They'd separate us otherwise, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with either one of us being alone with these creatures. Please, spare me the violence and just play along, okay?" Lance's expression was laced with worry.

_Wow, okay, that actually makes sense. But again, Holy Crow this is happening!_

Still at a loss for words, I simply nodded.

I stared ahead at the tall creatures that were now thirty yards ahead of us, quietly talking to each other. Something wasn't right. I could feel it. But we were lost on a strange planet, our lions needed to be fixed up, and these Shizans seemed to know what they were doing.

I felt a warm hand slip into mine, and glanced over to see Lance's fingers tangled with mine. Heat tinted my cheeks as I struggled to keep from smiling like an idiot. He's playing the part. Gotta be convincing, you know?

We caught up to the two creatures, who watched us with caution.

The dark blue Shizan spoke. "My name is Aurora. And this is my younger sister, Astrid."

Astrid's facial feathers puffed out, and she smiled cheekily. _That must be their version of blushing._

"We are nearly to our humble abode, young Paladins," Astrid said, after flattening her feathers. Looking us each in the eyes, she asked, "Have you two planned a wedding day?"

Blushing, I quickly answered, "No, no, we... we haven't."

"We... planned on having it when we got back to the palace," Lance said, glancing at me.

Aurora exchanged a glance with Astrid, and said, "We can host one here. I'm sure we can find something in your size, Miss..."

"Pidge," I spluttered nervously. I was just envisioning Lance in a suit and tie, and gazing at me amorously with those big, blue eyes of his that pulled me in like an ocean. How long can we keep this façade up before somebody finds out we aren't engaged?

"Well, Miss Pidge, I'd be happy to help you find a dress," Astrid offered.

"And..." Aurora nodded her head towards Lance, "I can help you find a suit."

Lance smirked, throwing Aurora one of his signature smiles before replying, "I'm sure you would, but I think Pidgey and I would like to settle in before we get into that, if that's alright."

Pidgey. I blushed at the pet name. But something occurred to me— here, standing before us, were two jaw-droppingly beautiful girls. And Lance hadn't once flirted with them.

I felt his fingers shift around mine as he pulled me forward. My breath hitched in my throat, and I, out of habit, pushed my glasses up my nose.

 _Why_ _did_ _his_ _hand_ _seem_ _to_ _fit_ _so_ _well_ _in_ _mine_ _?_

The two Shizans opened a huge, dark wooden door, and held it open for us. It seemed to be the equivalent of polished oak.

I breathed in the heavenly aroma of flowers and nectar. The house was decorated in orchids and lilies, and a huge wooden table was situated in the center of the entrance room. The flooring was made of what seemed to be clay or a very fine-grained sand that gave it a beachy or desert-like appearance. Bubbling water poured out of the top corner of the room and dribbled down into a bowl that fed a miniature fruit tree.

"Wow... this is... beautiful!" I gushed, staring up at the two Shizans in awe.

" _Ustedes_ _tienen_ _una_ _casa_ _muy_ _hermosa_ _,_ " Lance said, his blue eyes sparkling with interest. "It's stunning! Imagine that, Pidge, we get to stay here til our lions are fixed!"

Astrid nodded. "Yes! We do take pride in our architecture. Shall I show you two to your room? We don't usually expect visitors, so we have only one."

"Of course," Lance said calmly.

On the other hand, my heart couldn't race any faster. We had to share a room. _This_ _is_ _fine_ _._ _Sharing_ _is_ _caring_ _,_ _right_ _?_

Warm fingers tightened around my hand again as Lance pulled me along. "Woah, Pidge, look at this!"

I looked up to see a beautiful white bed covered in sewn-on flowers. A drawn-back curtain surrounded the bed, making it look mystical. Beside it was a nightstand and a beige couch.

"We'll just leave you two to settle in," Astrid said.

 


	3. Lance [edited]

**[artwork for this chapter made by nessajjewell_art on instagram]**   
  


"I call dibs on the couch!" I said, plopping unceremoniously on the sofa. I sunk into the cushions quite nicely and let out a long sigh. Why couldn't this mini vacation last longer?

Pidge hoisted herself onto the tall bed. "So, what's the plan?"

I blinked in confusion. "Plan?"

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Yes, your plan to get us out of here before they marry us off? Or have you forgotten?"

"Oh," I said, glancing at my feet sheepishly. "I didn't think it mattered. Yes, I... I have a plan."

"Let's hear it." The short girl tapped her fingers impatiently on her legs.

"Actually, I... I was thinking that while they get you all pampered, I find some tools and try to fix the lions myself so that we can get out of here. Or at least figure out how to communicate with the castle," Lance said.

Pidge seemed impressed. "Well, you _do_ have a plan!"

"Thing is, how will I communicate with the castle?"

"I think I can find something that we can rig up to our own methods." Pidge's eyes glimmered with that joy and determination I knew came from having a plan. "Let's do it tonight!"  
  


We waited until the night grew dark and the planet's two suns sank and its five moons rose. "Pidgey, look, _five_ moons!"

Pidge glanced out of the window. Her eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped her lips. "They're... _beautiful_." Her voice trailed off into a whisper as we both leaned on the window sill. I turned my head to look at her. The moonlight glistened off of her honey blond hair, which appeared satiny in the dark. I imagined what it felt like... what would her hair feel like running between my fingers? And her eyes, shining like molten caramel laced with diamonds. Could I stare at her eyes and melt under their warmth? And her lips, turned up into a smile, looked soft and full and so close-

I realized she was looking back at me, and I realized what I was thinking- _oh, what was I thinking?!-_ and flushed a deep red. "S-sorry, I... I was staring off into space."

Had I really thought about what it would be like to _kiss_ her?

"Let's go, Lance," she muttered. "Follow me, and be quiet."

I nodded, still stunned by my own thoughts. Pidge cracked open the door, peering out of it, and seeing that the coast was clear, walked into it. I followed and glanced at every shadow to be sure that one of those nine foot tall creeps weren't hiding behind it.

We crept through rooms until we found one with what looked like a computer. "It should be easy cracking this code because it's Galran," Pidge whispered. She tapped some numbers and letters into the computer, her eyes sparkling when she got through a firewall. Within moments, she had cracked every code and opened up a blank screen.

"What should we say?" she asked, turning to face me.

"I, uh..." Her amber eyes knocked me out of focus for a moment. "Just tell them, 'Pidge and Lance are safe on Shiza and their lions need to be fixed.'"

Pidge nodded, satisfied with that answer. _Click, click, click._ The message was sent. Immediately the phrase _Altean Castle ship has received your message_ appeared underneath.

_Oh, jolly! We thought we lost you two! We'll be there in about a varga to pick you and your lions up. -Coran_

"We have about a day, then." Pidge closed down the program.

"Let's hope they don't wed us before then," I whispered, chuckling.

"Yeah," Pidge replied, a little half-heartedly.

"Should we return to the room and get some sleep?"

A nod.

We tiptoed to the bedroom, Pidge letting the door click softly behind her. She slid under the covers of the bed, and I collapsed noisily on the couch.

"Buenas noches, mi amiga," I whispered before closing my eyes.

"Igualmente," Pidge muttered. I smiled. _Same to you,_ she said. In the time we had been a team, I had taught her a bit of Spanish.   
  
  
  


 

 


	4. Pidge [edited]

**[art for this chapter done by fandom.blob / haunted.hoodie on Instagram]**

I couldn't go to sleep. I had been completely still for what felt like hours, and I could tell Lance was already asleep across the room. _I can't be this tired if we plan on escaping tomorrow. I need to go to sleep._

I closed my eyes, focusing my mind on the silence. I honed in on Lance's quiet breathing and was startled by his rustling on the couch. I bolted upwards to see if he had woken up. It suddenly occurred to me how _cold_ it was, with air conditioning of some sort splashing against my face without the protection of the duvet cover.

Was he cold? I looked over at him, hunched in a somewhat leaned-over sitting position on the couch. I saw him tremble with a shiver, and then, the tall, lanky boy looked so small.

I bunched up the duvet in my hands and pulled it off of the bed, and since it was at least three times as long as I was tall, it flopped on the floor and dragged behind me. I approached the couch, lifting the feathery blanket and tossed it gently over the shivering boy. I paused as I waited to see if he woke. Negative. Then, seeing that I had given him the only blanket, I crawled onto the couch beside him and wrapped it around the both of us.

I timidly leaned against him, his warmth radiating through my body. I closed my eyes in hopes that the heart fluttering wildly in my chest would calm. _This is nothing, just best buddies helping one another out. He'd do the same for me._ My head leaned on his shoulder, and I felt myself getting drowsy.

———

"Paladins! Good morning!" A rapping sound at the door woke me up, my eyelids fluttering open. I yawned, stretching my arms before I felt soft hair brush against my skin.

I felt sudden alarm at the sensation, and turned to see that none other than _Lance McClain_ was sleeping beside me on the couch.

_Oh, quiznack. How am I going to explain—_

"Pidge?" Lance muttered groggily, sitting up. "Wha... Where are we... _And why are we wrapped up in a blanket together?!_ " His face was dusted with red.

"I... I can explain! You... You looked cold, so I brought the blanket here," I said, face heating up.

His expression was blank for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. "Should we be going?"

I nodded, leaping off the couch and heading out the door. I didn't want to look at him right now, not after _that._ Did I really think that was a good idea last night?

"Good morning, Pidge," Astrid said. She looked extremely excited. "I cannot _wait_ to dress you up for the wedding!! You're going to look _beautiful_!!"

"Uh... Huh?"

"You'll have a wonderful dress, and we'll style your hair, and..."

"Okay, Astrid, let the Earthling eat first." Aurora, tall and elegant in her simple dress, towered over me.

We sat at a huge, round table and on it were plates of purple berries and cups of something between the consistency of a milkshake and water. I'll admit, it was a hundred times better than the food goo Coran made us eat.

There was no talking, just ravenous hunger from Lance and I as we quickly ate up everything we could get our hands on. Once I finished my bowl... And a half... Of the purple berries (they were like juicy grapes, but sweeter), I looked up at Astrid to see her and her sister only very shocked.

"Uh, whoops!" I said, faking a smile and shrugging innocently.

"Never mind that, Earthling. Shall we begin the wedding preparations?" Aurora dismissed our impolite lack of manners with a flick of her hand and stood to lead me away. "Lance, will you be alright by yourself?"

"Oh, of course! I'll be fine," Lance said. His eyes stopped on me, and I turned red as he winked. He seemed to be saying, _I haven't forgotten our plan._ "Go get Pidgey ready for our wedding, alright? She'll look positively _glowing._ "

Which earned yet _another_ blush from me.

I followed after the two Shizans into another room. Astrid locked the door behind her, and I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

"Ah, we lock the door so that Lance can't peek in, of course!" Astrid said.

I giggled slightly at the thought. Lance _would_ do something like that.

"Here, Pidge, look at this dress!" Astrid exclaimed, excitedly holding a long flowing white dress with a green sash around the waste. The material was something like tule, with satin roses embroidered all around the skirt. The bodice was plain except for a single string of pearls attached to the dress that went diagonally across the chest.

"Wow," I whispered. "This... This is for _me_?"

Astrid glanced at Aurora, who gave a nod.

"I'll be leaving for a moment, Pidge, but I'll be back soon." Aurora turned and left through the door just feet away.

I paid no attention to her absence. Astrid began helping me out of the remains of my space suit, slipping the dress over my head, zipping it up, and tying it tightly in the back.

"How's it look?" I asked. I knew I was stalling them, distracting them so that Lance could figure out how to get the lions up and running, or until Allura showed up.

Astrid dragged out a mirror from inside a closet, propping it against the wall in front of me. "See for yourself."

I inhaled quickly when I saw myself in the mirror. It was beautiful, stunning, _breath-taking_. I felt my eyes sting with approaching tears. It had been _years_ since I had dressed up like this, felt like a real girl. Since I felt like Katie. Ever since I left my family, I never had time to really take care of myself. I had to chop off most of my hair. I loved how long it was.

"Pidge? Are you okay?" Astrid's voice was soft and quiet.

I realized tears were streaming down my cheeks now. I looked at Astrid and threw myself at her in a hug. "Thank you _so much_ for doing this!"

She gave me a sad smile, and I realized with alarm that there was a look of guilt laced in her eyes.

"Wha- what? What's wrong?" I took a step back.

Astrid opened her mouth to speak, but the door opened and Aurora walked in. Behind her, the roar of an engine blasted.

"Only what we have to, dear," Aurora spoke, as Astrid grabbed both my arms, twisting me around so that my back was against her chest.

"Lance! Help me!" I screamed, kicking out my legs. But they were restrained by the skirt of the dress. And I couldn't move very well, considering how tightly the dress was tied. _We were led into a trap._

A piece of tap was slapped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but it was all muffled. Strong arms tied mine in a thick rope.

"Lotor needs those lions. He's decided if you won't give them to him, he'll just hold one of you ransom," Aurora explained, while dragging me towards the door. My kicking was useless against the nine-foot-something giants. "Of course, you're the one he wants. Shiro can be replaced. Lance can be replaced. Keith can be replaced. They are all replaceable. They are just pilots, after all. But you, Pidge, are the whole core of the team. Without you, they will crumble."

Now they were running, and Astrid had slung me over her shoulder. "The ship leaves in fifty ticks!"

I searched the area wildly for the blue paladin. He was nowhere to be found.

 


	5. Lance

"Pidge?" My head bolted up, towards the direction of the noise. Was it my imagination?

I was outside, walking towards my lion, when I heard someone call my name. _Lance! Help me!_

I had to be sure. Was it really a good idea to leave her alone with those two Shizans? No, it wasn't. But I had no other option. As Paladins, we had to put ourselves in danger every day to keep not only ourselves safe, but the universe. This was one of those times.

I began to run towards the voice, entering the house. Silence. "Pidge?" Something soft- like buzzing- went off in the background.

 _Is that... the sound of a spaceship motor?_ I ran, filled with panic, towards the sound, and as I dashed through the room Pidge had previously been in and approached an open door, my heart dropped in my stomach.

There _was_ a spaceship. And it had just taken off. The door was closing to the spaceship, and on it were two giant figures, holding a small girl about half their size.

Amber eyes met mine, and she yelled something, screamed something, but I couldn't hear her over the sound of my own heart beating and the thunder of it slowing, and my heart pounding in my head. _This was happening... it's happening again..._

My legs began to move, carrying me back as fast as they could through the house, then to my lion, which had already sensed my urgency and was starting up. "Red, we need to leave, and _fast_."

The mechanical lion roared, yellow gleaming eyes meeting mine. I rushed through its mouth, placing myself in the now-familiar seat, hands trembling as I grabbed the controls. Immediately, voices were coming in through the communications system.

"Lance, Pidge, do you read me?" Keith's voice, smooth and unfaltering, rang through my ears. 

"Paladins, _please_ answer!" Allura, worried sick, probably.

"Look, I don't have time for chatter. I- we- need to rescue Pidge!"

"Pidge? What's happened to Pidge?" Hunk's frantic voice, hiding no emotion, showed well how he cared about the green paladin.

"The Shizans captured her and I think they're taking her to Lotor," I said, impatiently bringing the lion out of the forest and chasing after the ship. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Obviously you see what's going on here?" Keith. "She's being used as a bait, Lance. We can't all go in there; that's exactly what Lotor wants."

"Are you saying you aren't going to rescue your own team mate?!" Desperation- and a bit of anger- was seeping into my voice. I had the feeling that I would be doing all of this on my own.

"No, no, of course not. But we need to wait."

"Wait for what? She's in danger!"

"This... this is a terrible analogy, but Lance, it's like going into the supermarket for food. If it's too pricey, you wait until the right moment, and boom, there's a sale," Hunk said. "Lotor is probably waiting for us to rescue her as soon as she's taken. We need to wait until he's unaware, and then we pounce."

Strategically, it seemed like a good plan. A well thought out plan, especially on the fly like this. But I refused to believe that morally, this was the right thing to do. "Hunk, Keith, she's our team mate. She means a lot to Voltron. Without her, we're doomed to failure."

"We can't risk the lives of the team for one person, Lance," Keith said. "Our mission is bigger than that. We have to put the mission- saving the universe- above the heart. I'm sorry, Lance, but you can't put yourself at risk."

I wanted to hit something right then. This was ridiculous! How could anybody, after the forever we've spent as a team, just dismiss a problem like this so easily? What if Pidge was hurt? What would Lotor do to her until we arrived? What if she was being tortured for information like other Galra officers or rebels?

"Lance? We're here." Allura's voice was edged with worry.

"I'm not coming."

"Called it," Hunk muttered. There was then a thud as Keith punched him in the shoulder, and an "ow".

"What do you mean?" Allura asked.

"You know very well what I mean, Princess," I said. "I'm going after Pidge."

"You can't! Your lion isn't-"

"Then I'll stop somewhere with parts along the way. I'm leaving, and you can't stop me."

It was then I had noticed the vast expanse of space before me- endless stars and planets that spotted the sky. I was alone in this... so alone.

And so was Pidge.


	6. Pidge

The two Shizans tied me to a chair in the spaceship. "Don't try anything funny."

"You kidnapped me! How would you like me to react?" I snapped. My heart was still racing, even minutes after being abducted by aliens (quite literally, mind you). According to my calculations, I was screwed.

"Oh, sweetie, don't take it so personally. It's not you we want. It's Lotor's good side."

 _Of course_ this had to do with Lotor! "Am I being used as a _bribe_ or something?" 

"No... not entirely. You see, our planet is under Lotor's control. He only agreed to free us if we sent him a paladin of Voltron." Astrid's eyes were focused on the ground. "We're good people, really, but the freedom of millions is more important to us than the freedom of one."

My scowl softened. It made sense once I put it all together. Wouldn't Voltron do the same thing? "I... I understand."

"We knew you would, Pidgey (do you mind me calling you that?). You're a smart girl." Astrid sat beside me in the copilot's seat. 

I felt confused, between conflicting emotions of I've-just-been-kidnapped-what-the-quiznak-am-I-going-to-do and hey-I'm-actually-kidnapped-but-only-for-a-good-cause. I wanted to escape and run back to familiarity, but at the same time, I wanted to help these people after everything they've done for me.

"So, tell us about your fiancé, Lance," Astrid asked. I noticed that Aurora was completely focused on piloting the ship.

I scoffed. "Do you really believe that he'd be engaged to me?" I tried not to let the hurt enter my voice. "Lance has... higher standards."

"What standards could be higher than intelligent, beautiful, strong, and independent?"

"Wha- huh?" I was totally dumbfounded by Astrid's statement. 

"Don't think we haven't done our research, Miss. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"I understand being intelligent and independent, and maybe strong... but beautiful? No. I'm not pretty. I lost that long ago, along with my identity. I'm supposed to be a _boy_ , for crying out loud!" I imagined my short, scruffy hair that stuck out on all sides of my head, like feathers on a ruffled bird. My huge, round glasses made me look like a complete nerd. I didn't even need them, but they reminded me of Matt. There was nothing beautiful about hiding behind a disguise.

"So, you're not skinny. You're hair could use a brushing-through, and maybe a better haircut-"

"Wow, thanks a lot." I sulked, sinking into the chair.

"But! You're real." Astrid leaned forward, propping her chin on her hands. "You actually are kind of pretty, in a strange way. Your round glasses show off your spectacular amber eyes, and your hair sticks out like wings. You remind me of a golden angel, made out of caramel."

"T-thank you," I sputtered. "But Lance isn't into that."

"I think he _could_ be," Astrid said. "What's he like?"

"W-well, for one, he's a goofball. He loves making people laugh. He cares about all of us- Voltron- and sometimes he tries to act like a leader. And he flirts with every girl he sees, whether she's human or not, and once, he flirted with a _noodle_." I tried to fight smiling after the last sentence. "But it hurts... that he can find everyone but me attractive. It _hurts_ that he's searching for so much, for affection, for love, when all he has to do is turn and see me." My eyes were stinging, tears threatening to fall, like on other countless nights. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, no! Don't be sorry," Astrid said, smile twisted into a sympathetic frown. "You're allowed to cry, girlie. Do you want a hug?"

I nodded, but realized I was kind of tied up. I nodded towards the ropes with my head. 

"Oh, right." Astrid's dark grey forehead wrinkled in concentration. Her long, magenta braid was twisted around her slender fingers. Then, she turned towards the taller, blue Shizan. "Aurora, can't we help her?"

Aurora glared at Astrid. "Why should we? The fate of millions is at stake, Astrid, and now you just want to save one little girl so she can kiss-up to a boy?"

"No, 'Rora, I want to help her so that she can help us. What if Lotor doesn't keep his side of the deal?"

"If you let me go, I can return to Voltron and we'll fight to free your planet!" I said, pushing my glasses up my nose. "We've freed hundreds already, and our fighting force is growing."

"We don't have to let her go, though. What if we used her as bait?" Aurora's ears perked up at Astrid's suggestion. "We can send her in there, as a prisoner, and once we're on the ship, we take down Lotor."

"With three people? Are you nuts?" I said. "Lotor wouldn't even need to face us to win. Do you two even know how to use weapons?"

"Do you even know who we _are_ , Pidge?" Aurora asked, keeping her eyes on the space in front of her. "We are royal guards. Of course we know how to fight."

I smiled. Maybe things would work out after all. There were only five members on Voltron. Perhaps three wasn't much worse. "So, what now?"

"We contact Lance. He'll be in his lion, won't he?" Astrid looked to me for an answer. I nodded.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get." Astrid pushed a glowing panel over to me and untied the ropes holding me tightly against a passenger seat. "Here you go."

My fingers flew deftly across the panel, every touch causing a ripple underneath my finger pads. Static erupted from a speaker, and then silence.

"This is the Red Lion of Voltron." A silky voice floated through space and straight into my ears.

"Lance?" I couldn't think of anything more to say because my heart was currently fighting with my brain over what to say. 

"Pidge! Are you okay? Did those two quiznaking she-demons hurt you?" 

I tried to hold in a laugh, but it didn't work so well. "I'm fine, Lance. But that's not what I called you for."

"What is it?"

"We- myself and the two 'she-demons'- need your help with something. We're going to attack Lotor's ship, but send me in as bait."

"What?! That's a suicide mission, Pidge!" 

"Yeah, yeah, but Lotor already knows we're on the way. Are you with me or not?"

"Of course I'm coming."

"We just need the rest of-"

"Don't bother. They're not coming."

My eyes widened. "What do you mean, Lance?"

"I asked them to help me rescue you. Allura was too afraid to risk the team," he spat. "So we're on our own."

 _We're doing this alone,_ I thought. There's no way to escape this now. Lotor knows we're coming, so he'll do what he has to to keep his hostage- me. 

"So, what's the plan, Pidgey?"


	7. Lance

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, trying to lock my lion onto the Shizan ship. "We just send you in as a distraction and blow the place up?" The Shizans were already far ahead of me. They'd reach Lotor's ship in a matter of minutes.

"Yep, pretty much. Are you within our vicinity?" I could imagine Pidge pushing up her glasses, the glow of the control panels shining in them.

"No. You are too far ahead," I said. "But don't you worry, I'll catch up in no time. Red is the fastest lion in the whole universe!"

I heard a snicker on the other line. "Lance, just hurry up."

"Fine," I said, heaving an exaggerated sigh. "So, what happens after we send you in?"

"Well, Astrid, Aurora and I will go in. We'll distract Lotor. Lance, you take down the weaponry systems and any ships that come after you. We'll either trap Lotor ourselves or get the quiznak out of there."

"Roger that," I said. "What if something goes wrong?"

Something tugged at my chest. I wasn't just worried for the safety of everyone in this mission; my focus seemed to target solely Pidge. She was being used as a bait, and if there was anything I knew about fishing from my life on the water back home, it was that sometimes the fish would bite and a fisherman would reel it in. Other times, it'd swim off with the bait in its belly. And although Pidge could handle herself in dangerous situations, she was still just one person, and who was to say that once she was caught- for real- the two Shizans wouldn't ditch her for freedom?

"We'll be fine, Lance," Pidge said, slightly irritated. She didn't like to be doubted, that's for sure. Or maybe she was just as worried as I was and didn't want to admit it. "As long as we're all focused..."

Her voice trailed off, as if she was staring into the empty space before her. What was she thinking about? She didn't sound so focused. She hadn't for the past couple of days. Was that why everything had gone so wrong?

"Pidgey, you okay?" I asked, my voice laced with concern.

"Of course I am," Pidge said.

I wished I could've seen her face; seen her expression. Something was wrong. What _was_ it? "A- are you sure?"

"Yes, I am fine. Can't we drop this?" she hissed. 

"S-sorry," I stuttered. I knew Pidge to be grouchy... it was completely normal! But this hurt... why did it hurt? "I was just worried about you, that's all."

There was no response from her end. My breath seemed to hitch in my throat, as if waiting for an answer. 

"Oh, no..." A whisper barely registered on my end. It wasn't Pidge, but one of the two Shizans. 

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The ship! It's his ship... he's coming straight for us!"

"That was part of the plan, wasn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but sending an entire fleet of Galra fighters wasn't!!" Pidge's voice was strained from her obvious frustration. "What are we going to do? I didn't... I didn't plan for this!"

"Just hold out until I get there, okay?" I pressed a few buttons on the control panel, sending my lion a burst of speed. "I should be there in about three dobashes."

"We don't _have_ that kind of time! We need you here _now_!" Pidge said, a gasp escaping her mouth as her ship was hit.

 _No, no, no... this can't be happening..._ "Don't you have some kind of weapons?"

"The ship- no! It's for cargo only." Aurora, calm and concentrated, spoke. "Plus it was only recently built, unfinished and... stolen. We weren't planning for an attack."

I felt helpless as the red lion sped through space, going as fast as it possibly could. I felt my own panic and the lion's course through my veins. 

A faint voice interrupted the signal from Pidge's ship. Someone was overpowering their audio signal and was now making a message.

"This is Prince Lotor, of the Galra Empire. We are approaching the ship of the two Shizan royal guards, who hold something valuable to me. We'll fire until you hand her over. Surrender your ship's control to me and I'll order the attack ships to stop." The signal cut off and I could hear the panicked breathing of the shorter Shizan, Astrid. 

"No! This is bad, this is bad! What are we going to do?!"

"Chill, Astrid! We'll figure it- _agh_!" Another crash noise and more alarms going off. "We've... we've just lost our engines, guys! Just turn me in already!"

"Almost there, guys, just give me another dobash-" I was cut off by another yell.

"Our shield is down!"

_They really don't have more time..._

"Lance, we have to give the ship up or we'll die out here!"

If only they hadn't taken her armor, she'd be fine...

"I... I can't lose you, Pidge!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt some sort of lift on my heart. Did I just say that? 

"What?" Her voice was nothing but a tremulous whisper, as if she had been barely containing her frustration and hopelessness and fear of the situation at hand, and now her walls were breaking.

"I said I don't want to lose you, Pidge," I said. "We're totally alone here; no one's going to save us. If... if Lotor catches you and knows nobody's taking him up on his deal, he won't need you."

"They're chipping away at the ship as we speak." Even Astrid was morose and quiet. "We have about thirty ticks left before there's a leak of oxygen."

"I'm sorry, Lance, but I need to do this." Pidge's voice hardened as she became resolute- she was determined that this was what she had to do. I heard her voice, solid and unwavering, as she spoke to Lotor's ship. "This is Pidge Gunderson, green paladin of Voltron, and we- myself and other passengers- are surrendering control of our ship to you. Just cease fire."

 

 

 


	8. Pidge

My heart was racing a hundred miles an hour. Our ship suddenly accelerated towards Lotor's dark ship, a weird purple aura surrounding ours and releasing a sort of pulsing hum. 

"What are we going to do?" Astrid's words were nothing but a whisper, her voice cracking as if she was about to cry. "We've messed up so bad, Aurora..."

For the first time since Shiza, I saw Aurora's usually stern expression soften into sympathy. She pulled Astrid closer to her, the younger girl's head fitting snuggly on Aurora's shoulder. Aurora's long, slender fingers stroked the magenta hair that had spilled out of its braid. "Shh, it'll be okay."

"I..." A sniffle. "I wish Mom was here... She wouldn't have let us done something so stupid."

"And Dad would've gone with us, wouldn't he have? Because he was such a daredevil." 

I thought about my own family- my mom, who was still back on earth and probably worried sick about me. My dad and brother, who were still missing after their Kerberos mission. Was this my fate? The Holt fate? To disappear into space? 

Our ship stopped moving and landed with a jarring thud on a metal floor. The door opened and a tall, slender man with purple skin and almost white hair stepped inside, a smug grin on his face. 

"Lotor," I hissed, standing between him and the two Shizans behind me. 

"Hello to you, too, Pidge Gunderson," Lotor said, his yellow eyes calculatingly cold. "Guards, handcuff them and bring them with me."

Three sentinels spilled into the cargo ship, holding luminescent bands of purple light in their hands. The purple light bands were two circles joined by a piece of metal. One sentinel approached me, grabbing my wrists with one hand and enclosing them in the space-tech handcuffs. I didn't bother struggling, since I was completely weaponless, but I did shoot the robot a nasty glare.

"Now, now, Pidge, don't be so sour." Lotor laughed maniacally. "This will bring Voltron to its knees! Wait till they see I have their most intelligent team member in my prison cells."

I wanted to snap at him that Voltron wasn't stupid enough to give in to that kind of deal, but it hurt to know that it was true. Nobody was coming for me. 

We were led through so many corridors that I lost count. My head spun with the effort. Everything looked the same. Why did everything look the same? Usually I could remember where I was easily!

_Nobody's coming for me._

Purple light pulsed madly all around me, inside my head, stabbing its evil knives in my heart and tearing apart at my head. I closed my eyes to push it away. _Just go away._

_I'm all alone._

_No, stop that, Katie. Think of Matt. Think of Dad._ Pictures flashed before my mind's eye like a rollercoaster of deja vu, reminding me of every other time I had to just sit and _think_ about my family to keep me going. It was refreshing, for a split second, to hear my own name, even if just in my head. It felt like cold water cascading down my throat after hours of merciless coding, hunched over a computer. 

I vaguely remember being shoved into a prison cell, alone. A sharp, metallic outburst of noise hit my eardrums. The barred door had been shut. A clink of a small piece of metal told me that a key was being turned in its lock. 

The purple pulsing still hadn't left my head. I had to tell myself to breath. _Breath._  

Inhale.

Pause.

Exhale.

I opened my eyes finally, peering around the small cell. It was dark. The only light was glitching. It flickered on, then wavered, then held its balance, as if it, too, was holding a breath. The walls were made of some sort of dark metal, solid and unbreaking. There were no screws in place anywhere, no dirt or trash on the floor, and surprisingly, no blood stains. The place was impeccably clean. There was a single bed that fit squarely in the corner to my left. And a single bucket.

I shivered. Was I supposed to pee in a _bucket?!_  

I gazed past the cell door, where there was a brief interruption in metal bars by a corridor walkway. Right across from my cell was another. It was empty. So was the one next to that, and next to that one. As far as I noticed, I was all alone. 

_Great, Katie, you're all by yourself in a prison in your worst enemy's ship._

I realized I was cold. I was still wearing the stupid wedding dress Astrid had given me to wear. I wished that I had at least put on my armor's black spandex; at least then it wouldn't be so cold.

_I'm coming, Pidge._

I jumped up at the voice that seemed to come from nowhere but everywhere. "Hello?" My voice came out as a whisper. It wasn't my head, it couldn't have been. It sounded too real, and it sounded like _Lance_. How was that possible? I couldn't put a distance or location on the voice, as if it was coming from inside of me. And I hadn't thought of it voluntarily, either. 

There was no response. My whisper only brushed the metal bars on its way out. Was I going insane already? I'd been in here for, what? An hour? 

It couldn't be mind reading, or telepathy. That was scientifically impossible. I guessed that maybe it was possible with my lion, but that was it. _Oh, how I missed my lion!_ Greenie was almost another part of me. 

I kicked off my boots, stifling a yawn. I was exhausted. And there was nothing I could do to escape. Perhaps Lance's voice in my head was only a side effect of my exhaustion? After all, humans were known to do crazy things when they were over-tired. Maybe that was it. I could just go to sleep, and in the morning I'd be fine. No voices in my head. Then, with a clear mind, I'd figure out how to get myself out of here.

I shuffled over to the bed, which was neatly made and had folded black pants, a shirt, and socks. I stripped off the wedding dress, tossing it under the bed, and putting on the shirt (which was too long) and the pants (which were also too long, but I ripped off a chunk of the dress's skirt and used it as a belt). I laid down on the only slightly comfortable mattress.

_Pidge, I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time._

My eyes widened for a moment at the sound of his voice, this time laced with guilt and regret. It's not real, it's not real, it's not real. My eyes closed, and immediately I slipped into a dream where I sat at home with my family, heads of caramel hair and faces with caramel eyes, and suddenly, I saw blue.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, and thanks for reading! This is it for now, but don't worry, I'll be updating! And soon. All comments are appreciated.


	9. Lance

The red lion galloped across the meadows of stars and cosmic dust, leaving planets in its wake. My eyes were drooping, after what seemed to be hours of chasing Lotor's ship. I'd catch a signal, distant and weak, of something Galra, and pounce on it like prey. It might have been only a flicker on my radar, and I'd be off in its direction. 

I spent hours like this, maybe days- who knew when time was just another concept of measurement, like centimeters or inches. I just quit trying to keep track of numbers. 

I must have fallen asleep, because a deep rumble and a voice caressed me from inside of my mind.

 _Wake up,_ the voice said. It wasn't Pidge, unfortunately. It was a slightly unfamiliar voice, but it felt just as comforting to me as my own mother's voice. Don't fall asleep, paladin. 

I looked around, my head jerking side to side as my eyes glazed over the information in front of me. _Who_ was talking to me? "Hello?" I called out, though I immediately felt silly. I was all alone, so _alone_ , and nobody could hear me out here.

 _It is me, your red lion,_ the voice came again. It sounded like an ageless woman, wizened by time, yet frozen with youth.  

I nodded. Of course! My lion was talking to me... in my head. That wasn't strange. I smiled, thinking sadly of how Pidge would be having a conniption over how scientifically impossible this was, and she'd be trying desperately to figure out how in the world it was happening. 

 _I can tell you miss her,_ Red said, purring comfortingly. _Don't worry, young paladin, we'll reach her soon._

I smiled at the thought, letting myself dream about how when I found Pidge and heroically rescued her, she'd beam and drape herself on me dramatically, just like in the movies on Earth. I was so caught up in my embarrassing daydream that Red's next words didn't hit me until a full minute after she said them.

_Listen to your heart, Paladin. You're going to need it._

Why the quiznak did her words sound so ominous? 

\--------

**A L L U R A**

"Come on, Keith! Hunk! I need you two to pull it together!" I hated sounding so much like Shiro... like Shiro _would_. But I was desperate, and I wasn't sure how much longer we could hold out by ourselves before the Galra effectively defeated us. Voltron was at an all time low, and it was obvious to the whole universe. I blinked back tears, panic settling into my veins like ice. The blue lion blasted away at ships at my command, though by now, it was surely more the lion than my doing. I was completely distracted, trying to focus on the black and yellow lions which were fervently battling beside me.

"Allura, we're _trying,"_ Keith whined, his voice strained. His lion flew threw the air with alarming speed, a flurry of laser beams shooting past my lion, barely missing me. I swerved through the empty space and aimed for a cluster of Galra fighters, watching them explode into flames before moving on. 

"We need to get out of here," Hunk said. "My lion's warning me big time that this isn't a fight we can win."

My heart suddenly lurched, calling out to the three people I needed most right then. Shiro, Pidge, Lance. Shiro, Pidge, Lance. Where was Shiro? Was he even alive? Where was Lance? Still chasing after Pidge? Where was Pidge? Locked in a prison somewhere? Being tortured by Lotor?

"But that would be giving up, Hunk," I said, trying not to sound whiney. 

"Allura, it's our only option. We're missing nearly half of our team," Keith said. 

I didn't want to do that- run away. But what other options did we have? "Alright, let's go!"

Keith initiated the flee, speeding out of the battle zone hastily, becoming a speck in no time. Hunk followed, with me trailing behind. 

_How far are we going to fall like this?_

"We need Lance and Pidge back, Allura," Keith said. "We won't last long without Voltron."

"Keith, I cannot send our remaining teammates into an obvious trap," I said, getting frustrated. What would Father do?

"But we can't leave them to die." Keith's voice was calm, too calm. Something was off about him.

"What is it, Keith?"

"Huh?"

"Something's... off with you," I said, switching our channel to private. 

"I... I didn't want to say anything before, but..." Keith hesitated, and I suddenly felt afraid. "I'm leaving Voltron. I can't... we can't do anything anymore. You hurt Lance, my best friend. Who's to say he's coming back once he rescues Pidge?"

"What are you saying, Keith?" _Please don't leave me. Not like this. Not alone._

"I'm saying I'm leaving. I'm joining the Blade of Marmora." 

It was like a stab to the heart. It was like he was saying, _The Blade's got it together more than we do._ And in a way, if the Blade still existed, he was right.  "Keith... please..." I winced at how broken I sounded, how utterly _broken_ my voice was. "I've lost everyone..."

Keith, completely oblivious to my implications, only ignored me. "I'm leaving as soon as I can. I'll be able to do so much more that way."

I closed my eyes, clenching my fists tightly. I tried to remember what I had imagined my future to be. I thought of when I was younger, when Altea still existed. When home was a word I related to, but took for granted. I suppose I thought my future was Lotor, then. I guess I believed my future was to join two empires who had become friends. And when Voltron was formed under my leadership, it was Shiro I always imagined to be holding my hand, being my second in command on the ship but my first in command of my heart. And now... long after he disappeared and my heart shattered into a million pieces and I felt all hope bleed out, I leaned on Keith...

And Keith was leaving me, too. 

How could I fall in love so many times, cling onto hope so tightly, only for it to be ripped... away... time and time again? Was this my fate as a leader? Lose my kingdom before it's ever mine, lose my war before it has really begun? 

I... I couldn't take this anymore. No more losses. I wanted no more death, no more suffering. Somehow, I would get everything all back. But while my heart waited to make up its mind, things would only get worse before they got better. 

I thought of Lance on Pidge's tail, somewhere far out in the endless pit of space. He wasn't giving up. He was alone. Why should I?

 

 

 

 


	10. Pidge

I woke to the sound of metal sliding across the ground. It pierced my ears unpleasantly, and my eyes shot open. 

How many days had it been? Two? Three? Time seemed to fly by in a haze of strange food and foreign liquid slipping down my parched throat; every second was consumed by thoughts of my family, of Voltron, of... 

...of _Lance._ And I hated it, hated not being so occupied with my work and my tech that I actually had time to _fantasize._ A shudder ran through my body- from cold or from mental disgust, I didn't know. 

"Hello, Pidge." Fear shot through me like fire in my veins at the voice behind me. I didn't want to look this creature in his yellow eyes that seemed to know just the right words to irritate and charm someone at the same time. 

I growled, hopefully menacingly, at Prince Lotor, trying my best to glare at him. I guess it didn't look deadly enough, because he only laughed at me. 

"What a pity you are so dressed up, and you're here in my prison," he spat. "I would've found it quite entertaining to watch the short, boyish Earthling join in union with the most materialistic of her team."

 _Yeah, I'm sure Lance found it entertaining, too,_ I wanted to hiss. _Bet he found it funny that he'd be pretending to marry someone that in his standards, wasn't even pretty._

"I'm sure you'd like to get some... air after being cooped up in here for so long," Lotor said, his arms behind his back. He stood tall, towering above me, and if his actions didn't scare me enough, how he held himself _did._ "We'll be talking a walk around my ship, and I'll be asking you some questions."

"Will I be cuffed the whole time?" I snapped. 

"Actually, no," Lotor said. "I am sorry for how you've been treated. I'm sure you'd like something better to wear than that lump of rags you're wearing now. And possibly a shower, too. I can have my most qualified maids attend to you on the ship. Of course, you won't be allowed to leave."

I was stunned- what was Lotor _doing?_ It was like he was treating me like royalty (aside from all previous imprisonment), and not someone he'd hired two aliens to smuggle into a ship. 

"I'm... confused," I stated bluntly. "Why on earth are you treating me like this?"

Lotor smiled, a smile some girl somewhere would probably be drooling over, but at the moment, I was thinking about _Lance's_ smile, radiant and charming in every way. He'd totally be taking advantage of the royal spa treatment. 

"Oh, of course!" Lotor said. "I'm afraid my intentions weren't clear enough. I have no need to capture Voltron. That's my father's style. I simply want to join forces with Voltron, and you by far seem to be the most reasonable paladin to talk to."

\---

In about two hours, I felt brand new, more pampered than I'd been in a long time. Who knows how long I'd been out in space, wearing the same two outfits every day. My hair was fluffy and soft, thanks to the thirty minutes spent brushing it and two Galran women putting tons of some strange scented stuff in my hair. Possibly whatever shampoo Lotor used. They wanted me to wear a dress, but I refused, feeling odd enough, and settled for the Galran equivalent to khakis and a t-shirt. 

I was ready to leave, and was guided by two sentries to a small dining room, where chefs carried multitudes of trays that steamed deliciously. Hunk would've loved to see this. I was sure he would plow through every sentry in the ship just for a taste of whatever they cooked. 

"Pidge, you look lovely," Lotor said, dressed in a flowing silver robe. I squinted my eyes suspiciously. What was this guy up to? 

"Uh, thanks," I muttered. I sat as far away from him as I could while still remaining in range of hearing him. "Let's get this over with. What do you want from me?"

"I only want you to listen, dear paladin," Lotor said. "No one else will."

I flinched at him calling me "dear paladin" as if calling me "lovely" wasn't already too much. "Get on with it."

"Ah, yes, straight to business!" Lotor said. "I want to join forces with Voltron. I'm sick of how my father rules his empire and I, like you, want it to end. We'd be unstoppable- Voltron and Lotor- and soon Zarkon's reign would be over."

"So that you could take the throne instead?" I snapped. 

"I'd be able to turn around our mistakes and restore this empire to the way it was ten thousand years ago. Just think about it this way... My actions are heavily influenced by what you- and Voltron- want and by my desire to end my father. Think of me as your ticket into shaping the Empire however you want to."

When he said it like that, it sounded like a good idea. But I knew Lotor... he was no better than his father. "You're going to use us to help you, and when you're done, turn around and destroy us."

"And what would I gain from destroying such a lovely woman?" Lotor said, sipping something from a goblet while staring at me. 

That did it. "Would you _stop_ that?" I hissed, standing. Once again, I was too short to really be threatening, especially to this tall man. 

"Stop what, dear?" Lotor asked, genuinely confused. "Complimenting you? Why, isn't that what a gentleman ought to be?"

"It's making me uncomfortable," I deadpanned. Then I thought of Lance. He hadn't really ever told me I looked good, or called me lovely. 

"My apologies, paladin," Lotor said, leaning forward over his plate and propping his head on his hand and his elbow on the table. "I just thought someone like you would be used to such flattery."

"Pfft," I scoffed. "No, you're mistaken. You must be thinking of Allura. I'm... I'm not..."

"You're not what? Tall and skinny like her? No, you're small and lithe. Don't compare yourself to someone you're not." Lotor picked at his food. "You seem upset, paladin. I hope I didn't cause it?"

Upset? I then noticed how my eyes were stinging. This again? Why couldn't I just give it up already? Why did it matter so much to me what Lance thought? Deep down, I knew it was pathetic. It was ridiculous of me to base what I thought of myself on what Lance liked in a girl. Tall and skinny. I was exactly the opposite. 

"Oh, n-no. I'm fine." I tried to eat the food in front of me, strange meat that was orange with blue speckles. 

"You're lying."

"No, I'm n- why am I even having this conversation with you? This is my own personal problem." I stared at him hard for a full three seconds. Once again, my attempt at intimidation failed me, because Lotor's face sprung into a smile.

"The first step to our joining forces is to gain each other's trust. I need you to trust me, Pidge. I may not be the face of comfort you're used to, but right now, I'm your only option."

"And who's fault is that?!" 

"Pidge," Lotor said, his face softening. "Something's clearly bothering you."

"I said I'm _fine,"_ I said, trying to ignore him and eat. 

"I can tell my flattery was bothering you, but it has nothing to do with me. Does it have something to do with a certain person _not_ telling you something?"

I turned red, a fatal combination of embarrassment and frustration. 

"Does it have to do with someone who flirts with everyone else... but you?" Lotor pried. 

"I- I don't... it... does," I forced myself to say. "It has everything to do with that."

"Tell me, _please,"_ Lotor said. 

"It's Lance. He... he flirts with every girl that breaths, except me! I don't know why it bothers me... no, I just... didn't want to admit it to myself. It bothers me so much to see him chasing after everyone else, after anybody else, when he doesn't have to run very far to find what he's looking for. I'm right here, I'm so close, and I... I _love_ him, _I love him,_ but it's like I'm falling for someone who doesn't think I'm anything more than an imaginary friend... not real. Not an option. Not good enough."

It hit me then, what I'd just said. To somebody I considered my enemy.

Lance.

_I love him._

 


	11. Pidge

"I see," Lotor said, almost too quiet for me to hear. I glanced up at him, hoping for any clue as to what he was thinking, but whatever expression he wore seemed to be pensive.

"I- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," I whispered, feeling sick to my stomach with apprehension. I stood, pushing my chair back, ready to just escape. I hated the feeling of uncertainty. Was he somehow going to use that information against me? Hurt Lance to get me to tell him whatever he wanted about Voltron? It didn't make sense that Lotor would pick me to talk to or negotiate a partnership with. I wasn't Voltron's leader, so I couldn't make decisions like that. He picked the most technologically advanced out of the team- I could tell him better than anyone what made the lions work and what they were made of.

"No, Pidge, wait!" Lotor jumped out of his chair and ran after me, catching up in no time. "Where are you going?"

I shrugged. I didn't have any plans. I was now on uncharted territory. That was half the reason I'd never done anything about my feelings for Lance. Emotions weren't like computers. They weren't predictable, couldn't be fixed with a simple line of coding. Coding couldn't make me delete my feelings no matter how many firewalls in my heart I hacked through.

"You've got what you want, Lotor. Something to use against me... blackmail. Just leave me alone, okay?" Me? The most reasonable paladin? Seriously, did this guy think I was stupid? I had the temper of a bull, for crying out loud. I was an Aries, fire through and through. How did that make me reasonable?

"Pidge, that's not... that's not what I was doing," Lotor said. "I wanted to show you I was trustworthy. I wanted you to know I could keep a secret that meant so much to you."

I turned back and looked up at him, crossing my arms. "Why me?"

"Allura's too naive, Keith is too temperamental. Hunk is too kind. Lance... would literally kill me and sell my insides to Satan for a... how do you humans say it? A cornchip?"

I burst out laughing. This guy! He had just literally used an Earth meme in a sentence. "Yep, that's... that's right." I was still trying to stifle a laugh, but it was too late. Lotor was clearly pleased with himself, smiling.

"Pidge, you just happen to be the smartest and the most curious. You of all people would analyze your information over and over, careful not to let emotion rule your results." Lotor's hand was on my shoulder now, a move he was daring enough to perform. He must've known my opinion of him was about as blurred and confused as a camera out of focus.

"What do you want, then?" I asked, still perplexed as to what he wanted me to do. If he only wanted to gossip about my girlish secrets and show off how well he knew my teammates, I was better off in the prison cell.

"What does it take for me to prove you can trust me?" Lotor asked, silky silver hair flowing down his back like a mystical waterfall. I felt my own hair, soft and feathery, wondering how much Lance would give to have Lotor's shampoo.

I thought hard about it. But I realized it wasn't hard at all to find something I wanted that wasn't Lance related. Good, I was still Pidge, and not completely obsessed with everything blue and Cuban.

"I want you to help me find my father and brother," I said, my voice strong and confident. I, too, could play the game of using your enemy to your advantage.

"Sam and Matthew Holt?"

I nodded. "Yes, them. If you can help me rescue them from Zarkon, then you have my trust."

"One hundred percent?" Lotor asked, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

Hesitant to throw everything in the air, I paused. I trusted hardly anyone one hundred percent. That meant trusting Lotor with my life. The only people I trusted that much were back home or part of Voltron. Could I do that? "Yes. One hundred percent."

"Deal?" He held out his purple hand, slender fingers reaching towards me like a beckon. Reluctantly, I placed my tiny hand in his and shook it, sealing my fate. I'd now be forced to trust this tall purple man with my life.

"Deal, I guess." I stared at him, hoping he'd see the uncertainty in my amber eyes, that he'd see I wasn't completely sold on letting him control our new mission completely. "Where do we start?"

"We need someone who's already on their way towards us now." Lotor made his way down a couple of hallways and came into a room with a control panel that glowed with many buttons. I felt a seed of fear root itself in my stomach. Already, Lotor was bringing someone else into the equation. "I think you're very familiar with him."

My heart began to race in anticipation. "Lance? He's on his way here?"

"Why do you sound so surprised that he's come to rescue you?" Lotor cocked his head to the side, confusion in his features.

My first day here... Could it really have been Lance speaking to me then, in my mind? It was his voice. "I... I'm not. He'd rescue any of his teammates."

"Why don't we get in contact with him, then? Would you do the honor?" He stepped aside from the screens and panels.

Stepping up to the buttons, I searched the code for any information. The ship was cloaked, letting out a signal only every few hours. Strange. "Lotor, what's this? The ship is cloaked."

"Yes. I didn't want your friend to come blasting the ship without letting me get a word in edgewise. We've been leading him with short bursts of signal so that he could follow, but not pinpoint our location. Could you remove that for me?"

I nodded, smiling to myself. That was actually... really smart. How had I never thought of that? Cloaking the ship's location and uncloaking it. This whole time, had Lance really just been chasing a ghost's trail? I removed the cloak, and searched for the red lion's location.

There.

I was just the push of a button away from actually hearing his voice, his real voice, and not the voice I imagined saying stupid things to me. Why hadn't I pushed it yet? It was what I said to Lotor earlier that scared me so much. Suddenly, my feelings had become so much more real than I had ever thought they were, and their weight crashed down on me. I was afraid of being so vulnerable in front of people, of letting them see just how much Pidge Gunderson the technological genius could really crash and burn. 

I closed my eyes and pressed the button that connected Lance and I... and waited. 

There was static. I was connected. My heart seemed to be feeling the ultimate vertigo, the same feeling you get when you're about to drop from a zip line or accelerate on a rollercoaster. "Lance? Are you there? It's me, Pidge."

There was silence for a moment. I so desperately wanted to see him again, see him _alive_. Was he just in shock from hearing my voice? Or had something happened to him?

 _Oh, quiznak, why hadn't I thought of that before!_ He was out there all alone in one of the most coveted weapons in the whole universe... And I was too concerned with my stupid love life to realize it!

"Pidge? You're alive! Where are you?" Lance's voice was full of holes and static, nowhere clear enough to satisfy the hunger for his _real_ voice. 

"Follow the directions I've sent you. And please don't shoot, Lance," I added. 

"Are you hurt?" 

"No, I'm fine. Just get here quickly and I'll explain everything." I pressed the button that disconnected the call and sighed heavily, leaning against the wall nearby. I turned to Lotor, who had been staring at me the entire time, arms and legs crossed to form the perfect image of a prince in relaxation. He looked smug.

"What?" I snapped. 

"Oh nothing, just that the smile on your face is humongous," Lotor said, walking towards me. "This will be quite entertaining to watch."

My smile drooped. There it was again, the _quite entertaining_ part. Was this thing between Lance and I nothing more to him than a joke? He seemed to care only ten minutes ago. 

"Oh, I apologize, once again," Lotor said, noticing my expression. "I did not mean it that way. I just mean to say that I am interested in how this will all play out."

I was about to make a comment when the doors to the control room slid open and familiar footsteps echoed on the metal floor. I spun around, bracing myself for the fire blossom of queasy feelings my heart would throw at me.

His name left my lips in nothing more than a breathless whisper, like a fresh butterfly learning to fly for the first time, testing its wings.

"Lance."


	12. Pidge

"Lance."

Her voice was soft, and nearly inaudible, as if she simply didn't believe I'd ever show up. I stood still and silent, for once dumbfounded by my circumstances and what stood before me. Here I was, literally rescuing a beautiful girl I...

...admired...

...And I couldn't even function well enough to say something back to her. Scenarios, hundreds of them, all ran through my head as fast as my heart was beating, but nothing sounded perfect enough, no pick-up lines or cliché movie moments seemed good enough. 

I watched her study me for a moment- I loved when she did that, when she looked at everything as if it was new, as if everything had a fresh coat of paint that had to be re-remembered and she had to be accustomed to all over again. The curiosity in her eyes never failed to amaze me... it was like the world never got _old_ to her. She took a step, then two, all in the blink of an eye, but to me it was an eternity. She wasn't walking _fast_ enough, wasn't near me _fast enough;_ too slow, too slow, _everything was always too slow,_ but time was constantly in this equilibrium between being slow enough to really _look_ around and feel the moment and too fast to drink it all in. Her footsteps ended in front of me, and for a moment, her amber eyes seemed to be fighting wars, fighting battles (has she _always_ been like this? Fighting wars and fighting battles in reality and _in her eyes?)_. She didn't look at me, not for a long time, and I let out a quiet sigh of surprise when she threw her arms around me and buried her head in my chest.

I didn't hesitate to return the embrace, holding her as close to me as I could, but it didn't seem close enough. The words I wanted to hear were never here fast enough and she was never close enough. 

"I missed you, Lance," she whispered into me, arms still clinging onto me with such ferocity that I once again was surprised by what Pidge Gunderson could do. 

I leaned over, resting my head on hers, trying to drink in everything that was happening- my racing heart pulsing like drums through my body, _her_ racing heart like a soft echo of my own, her rickety breaths that said she wanted to cry but had no tears left in her. 

"I missed you, too, Pidge," I whispered back, my breath brushing against her hair, a soft wind that sent it backwards to tickle my cheek. I suddenly noticed out of the corner of my eyes Lotor. I stood straight, reluctant to let Pidge go, and I looked him straight in the eyes. "What's _he_ doing here, Pidge?"

Pidge stood a little taller herself, rosy color lightly painting her cheeks. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about that. He's going to help me get my family back."

I glared at the purple prince, still untrusting of him. When it came to her family, Pidge seemed to be a bit unreasonably ready to do absolutely anything to get them, whether it meant putting herself in danger or others. "How do I know we can trust him?"

She turned and looked at him, and they shared a smile before turning back to me. "Well, I, uh..." Her blush was even bigger, more obvious. "I told him something I've told no one else and so far he hasn't said anything. It's good enough for me."

I stepped back, suddenly hit by a boiling feeling of hatred for Lotor, more than I'd ever previously felt. I looked back at Pidge, who was avoiding my eyes, and Lotor, who had a smug smile on his face, and it all hit me at once like water someone's jumped off of a bridge into. Like concrete. 

 _Pidge has feelings for Lotor._ The words coiled themselves around my mind and my heart like choking vines, ivy that spread and didn't relieve the pressure on whatever it trapped inside. What secret? 

"Lance?" Pidge's voice broke through my gathering storm of thoughts. 

"What secret?" I blurted. "Are you two... is this going to be a thing now?" First Allura, and now Pidge. I remembered thinking, _Is Allura going to be in love with everyone except for me?_ I knew everything I felt for her was merely an infatuation, a school boy's crush. But she never truly gave me the chance to make it real. I was never an option for her... it was always everybody else. 

But this... seeing Pidge beat red, big amber eyes shining like a million golden stars... I didn't understand how desperately I wanted that all for me until then. 

What was it about Lotor that made them share that smile? What was it that made her share that secret? Was he some sort of hero? Was he smarter than me?

That was it. He was smarter than me. It was no secret Lotor was intelligent. He was charming, attractive- everything I easily was- but he was intelligent. I was no technological genius like Pidge, I wasn't a math geek, I wasn't a mechanic, I didn't understand big scientific words like she did, and I couldn't build cool robots or invent things. 

"What are you talking about, Lance?" Pidge asked. 

"You and Lotor," I deadpanned. "Are you both...?"

"Both _what?"_ Pidge pushed. 

"Are you two _seeing_ each other?" I said, trying not to shake. I hated Lotor, but now... now I just wanted him gone.

Pidge's expression ranged from confused to surprised to slightly disgusted. "Are you out of your mind, Lance? Why would you even think that?"

"Because... because... you spend a lot of time alone at night! How do we know you're not sneaking out somewhere?" I realized how ridiculous I sounded, and how irrational I was being.

"Lance, please calm down," Lotor said, butting into the conversation. "Pidge and I are not a thing. However much of a beautiful young lady she is, I have no interest romantically in her."

"Seriously, Lance, what's your problem?" Pidge looked slightly irritated. But her voice softened. "What's _wrong?"_

I shook my head. "N-nothing. I'm fine. I think I just need... some time alone."

I turned and walked out of the room, far away from a problem I was too afraid to admit, too afraid to come to terms with. 

I liked Pidge, and now I was jealous.

 

 


	13. Lance

I ran through the corridors of the darkly decorated ship, looking for the very thing that gave me sanity. 

An observation deck.

I went down hallway after hallway, finding no windows or open doors to a room with one, until I ran into a sentry.

"Hey! You! Can you take me to an observation deck?" I asked the robot. I was surprised it hadn't started shooting at me, but maybe Lotor had reprogrammed them to be less... violent.

"Yes. Right this way, sir," it said in a mechanical voice, turning a perfect ninety degrees and trotting down a hallway. I followed after, and it walked up to a door, typed in a code, waited for it to open, and walked away. 

I peered inside to see an empty room with only a large window. Perfect. It was so much like the castle. Whenever I felt upset, scared, alone, discouraged, I went to the castle's observation deck, and I'd just stare at the stars for hours, remembering that out there somewhere was my home. It made me feel better that the only thing between me and my family was a bunch of stars.

I sat on the floor, legs crossed. I removed my armor, leaving only the black clothing underneath. I shivered from the air conditioning that blasted my back. I was used to bringing a blanket with me, curling up and falling asleep. Sometimes I'd wake up and just feel _her_ presence there, _Pidge_ was there, watching like an owl over her forest, checking every tree and burrow for danger. Whether she knew it or not, I always knew when she came in, quiet footsteps pitter-pattering across the floor. Sometimes she'd sit beside me while I slept, not talking. Just breathing, just existing beside me. And that was the most comforting thing.

But I couldn't go to sleep now. It was too cold, and the ship was too unfamiliar. It usually took me a while to fall asleep in a new place, but no matter how hard I tried, the ground was just too cold and the room too lonely and the stars too different. 

So I just stared outside, thinking about my family, especially my two brothers Marco and Luis, and my sister Veronica. What did my family think of me? Did they think I was dead? Were they doing alright? 

Familiar footsteps found their way into my mind, and before I knew it, Pidge was beside me, holding two bundles in her arms. Blankets.

"Hi, Lance," she said, setting the blankets down and picking one up, flinging it out away from her so that it wasn't tangled. She draped it over my shoulders, then sitting and covering herself with her own blanket.

"Hey, Pigeon," I said, trying to be normal, casual, like we always were. We were always great friends, just friends, and if something ever happened between us, we'd move on and pretend it didn't happen. But my mouth had other ideas- like my heart and my lips were working against my brain, and before I knew it, I couldn't stop the words from tumbling out of my body like a torrent of jarred-up feelings. "I'm really sorry I acted like that back there. I shouldn't have, and I don't know what got into me-"

There was a hand on my shoulder, warm and so _there_. "But I... I do. And it's okay. I understand."

"But you don't understand, Pidge," I said, willing her to just listen. Maybe something good would come out of just spewing thoughts like a malfunctioning coffee machine. _"Tuve celos,_ you know?" I sighed, knowing I'd just let it out there, I freed the thought like a butterfly. _I was jealous._

"Lance, I know better than _anybody_ what it's like to be so... so jealous of someone you lose control of your emotions," Pidge whispered, staring at the stars. 

"What? You do?" I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. She wasn't looking at me, so that meant she was afraid to. Who was she talking about? "Were you jealous of Lotor or something?"

She whipped her head toward me somewhat furiously and spat, "Lance, this has nothing to do with Lotor! Get that out of your head. I don't like him in the slightest. I barely even trust him. What will it take for you to believe me?"

I had the wildest idea pop into my mind, and I blushed, trying to push it down, but once again my heart won. "Kiss me," I blurted, and my blush grew hotter. I mentally face palmed, thinking of every way this could go wrong in my head.

"What?" Pidge murmured, the way someone would say it when they weren't sure they heard you right. 

"I mean it, Pidge. Whatever your real name is. What is your real name?"

Two amber eyes looked up at me, big and wide with something between disbelief and curiosity. "It's Katie," she whispered, as if speaking too loudly would blow the whole moment away like dandelion fluff. 

I smiled, thinking about her as Katie Holt. Somehow, it made her seem all the more alluring and intelligent. "Katie... that's beautiful. I just... you're _beautiful._ I don't say that enough. I.... I don't say it ever, and I'm so _stupid_ for not seeing sooner how truly amazing you are. I'm constantly so speechless seeing you every day, thinking about how absolutely intelligent you are. You're so observant, so curious, and I love seeing your eyes light up when you get something, when you really get something. You're _so real,_ so _here,_ and I'm a fool for not having seen it before. I was chasing after all the wrong people, Katie, and... I see now how that hurt you. I'm so sorry."

I felt my heart race with all the adrenaline of saying things I'd been afraid to say, of finally getting over myself, getting over my lack of bravery to step into unknown territory. I was doing it, and it gave me such a rush. I looked at Pidge- no, Katie- and saw her eyes glistening with tears. She had a huge smile on her face, and when our eyes met, she looked down at her hands and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

I reached down toward her and slid my fingers between hers, and placed my other hand under her chin, lifting her gaze to mine. I felt one last trickle of doubt creep into my mind. _If I'm doing anything wrong, Katie, stop me now._ But I pushed it away, bringing both of my hands to her face, my fingers slipping into place in her hair like they were just _meant_ to be there. I leaned toward her, drinking in everything, drinking in the moment, becoming drunk on the overwhelming blossom in my heart. 

"I'm in love with _you,_ Katie," I whispered, our lips inches apart. Her breath caught in her throat, and I heard her sigh happily.

"I'm in love with you, too, Lance," she whispered, leaning into me when our lips met, her velvety soft touch sending electric pulses of energy through me. She felt so warm, so _warm,_ and I couldn't get enough. She smelled like fire, like cinnamon and earth, like home. 

We broke the kiss, breathing heavily, our respiration the only sound in the room. I gazed at her, ad she stared back, hungry amber eyes dreamily taking me in. 

I leaned toward her again, my body begging for another kiss, and I wondered how on earth I thought anybody else could make me feel the way Katie did.

 

 

 

 


	14. Pidge

I woke to something touching my hair, and I freaked, eyes popping open. Two blue eyes gazed into mine, a goofy smile on Lance's face. It took me a moment to remember what had happened last night-

 _We kissed._ I blinked blissfully, recalling how both of us had curled up together in a blanket and made a makeshift pillow out of the second blanket, falling asleep in each other's arms. 

"Hey, Katie," Lance murmured, fingers still playing with my hair. He reached towards me and kissed me on the nose. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mhmm," I said, trying to calm my heart rate. "Y-you?"

"Wonderfully," he whispered, winking at me. 

 _If he's gonna keep this up, I don't know if I'll survive through the day,_ I thought, grinning widely back. 

"So," Lance said, "what's today's plan?"

"Lotor's taking us to rescue my dad and brother," I said. I thought of Matt and Dad, and smiled again, happy that we'd finally get somewhere. Lotor knew Zarkon's ships inside and out. We'd find them in no time.

"You excited?" Lance asked. 

"Yeah, it's just..." I paused, thinking of the right words. "I never really thought I'd go all this way, make it this far, and now, _here I am,_ two steps away from seeing them again."

A soft kiss on the cheek. "You'd have found them all by yourself, _mi paloma."_

I blushed at the nickname. "What's that mean?"

"My pigeon," Lance whispered. 

"How romantic," I muttered. "But I think it's cute."

"Not as cute as you, _querido,"_ Lance said, smirking. 

"Aw, c'mon, Lance!"

"Oh, I can do better. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

"That's so unoriginal."

"Okay, okay, how about this? Are you a nucleus? 'Cus you're the center of my life."

"Getting better. Finally made it on my radar, Lance!" I laughed, enjoying this game a little too much. 

"Are you the square root of -1? Because you can't be real."

"Holy crow, Lance, that was actually really good." I giggled again, thinking about how much fun it was being alone with him like this, not having to compete with anyone else for his affection. How the dream I'd had for so long- no matter how cliché it was- of hearing him use a pick-up line or two on me was finally coming true. "What'd you do before joining the Garrison?"

"Oh, me? I was a singer," Lance said, smiling proudly. 

"You were? Like, a real singer?"

"Aw, Pidgey, I'm hurt. You've seriously never heard of me?" Lance looked a little disappointed. 

"Sorry, I don't listen to a lot of music," I said. "Were you like, popular?"

"Nah, not really. I've had a couple small concerts in my home town, but that's it," he said. "I miss singing on stage."

"Maybe we could figure something out. I bet you've got a super hot voice," I said, trying to imagine what he'd sound like singing. 

"I bet you can sing, too," Lance said, poking me in the side. 

"Nope," I replied, blushing. I did, on rare occasion, sing to myself, but only when I was alone. "I don't sing."

"C'mon, that's a lie, I can tell," Lance said. 

"Okay, fine, I do sometimes..." I admitted. "But not in front of people. It makes me nervous."

"Aw, that's adorable. I remember when I was little, I was scared of my own voice, too," Lance said. "Do you _like_ singing?"

I shrugged. "I guess. I do like music, but I've always thought my talent was in techie stuff like making cool remixes or being a DJ. Not singing."

"How 'bout I help you, then?" His eyes were willing me to say yes. Maybe this was his way of getting back into the groove of singing in front of people after being away from the performance life for so long. 

And what would it be like for Lance McClain to teach me to sing? How _romantic_ it would be to hear our voices blending together in perfect harmony, his eyes gazing into mine as we made music together, and all we would hear would be our words braiding themselves into a song. 

"Absolutely," I muttered, perhaps a bit too dreamily. I felt my face heating up. "I mean, yeah. That's a nice idea, but I don't know..."

Lance punched me playfully on the shoulder. "Oh, you know you love me, and you _love_ that idea."

Before I could answer, Lotor walked through the door of the tiny observation deck. I quickly sat up, untangling myself from the Cuban boy's grasp. "Oh, uh, hi Lotor."

He gave me a satisfied smile, eyeing Lance beside me. "I do apologize for interrupting, but we must be leaving soon if we are to reach Zarkon's ship before their next jump."

I nodded, blushing furiously. Lotor had just caught me cuddling with Lance. "Of course." I tugged on Lance's arm for him to get up and follow. "We'll come with you."

I trotted after the tall prince, Lance's hand in mine. How was I ever going to get used to that? Every touch, over and over again, was always like the first time it happened. 

"I see you two are getting along nicely," Lotor commented, breaking the awkward silence. 

"Yep," I replied. "Getting along great." I absolutely wanted no part in this conversation. I wasn't ready to discuss Lance and myself yet. 

"You two have no need to worry about this getting out to anyone," Lotor said. "I will especially not mention it to team Voltron."

"How come?" I asked. 

"You wouldn't want your fellow paladins being concerned with whether or not your relationship will hinder the Voltron bond or not," Lotor said. "I suggest not informing them about it."

I looked at Lance, his eyes sharing the same concern I felt. I hadn't really thought of what we were going to tell the rest of the paladins.

Hunk would say he was fine with it, he'd act like he was supportive, and to an extent, he would be. But it wasn't fair to him the Lance and I could be together but he and Shay couldn't. 

Keith... well, he'd find a reason to be all uppity about it. 

There were countless other reasons why teammates would have problems with us, want to separate us. 

I began to panic, thinking about everything that could go wrong. What if Hunk became jealous that Lance and I had something he couldn't? What if Keith thought I was stealing his best friend from him? What if Lance and I made a mistake and we started a family in the middle of a space war? It'd be terrible... we'd be putting our baby in danger, or we'd have to run away to somewhere safer.

How could we have been so _stupid?_ Since when did Katie Holt make stupid decisions? We couldn't tell anybody... nobody could know Lance and I were in love. 

 


	15. Pidge

"Pidge? You okay?" Lance asked, nudging me lightly. I was walking in a trance, staring into space in front of me.

I shook myself out of it. "We can't tell anybody about us, Lance."

He nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. But we need to focus on the mission at hand, remember? That's a problem for later." He squeezed my hand, and I instantly felt better, regretting the thought that loving him was a stupid decision. Lance was never a stupid decision.

"The first thing we must do is to install a cloak on the ship we'll be travelling in," Lotor said, satisfied that we had ended our previous conversation. "Pidge, can you do that?"

Without hesitating, I nodded. "Of course."

"What about me? What can I do?" Lance asked, blue eyes curious and full of readiness to help.

Lotor froze in place. "You... can help me stock the ship with weapons."

The Cuban pouted, and I patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Lance. I'm sure you'll have something cooler to do once we get there."

"Stock weapons... pfft, what kinda job is that?" he muttered under his breath.

Lotor led us to the ship at hand- his own personal ship. It was small, extremely flexible, and blended in well with a dark sky. "Here it is. Do whatever you think we'll need for a successful mission." He tossed me a small, clear card. The key.

"You're just handing me the keys? Just like that?" I asked, dumbfounded.

Lotor gave me a "duh" look. "I trust you, Pidge."

The prince's words hit me hard. He trusted me with his own ship; all he wanted was for me to trust him back. It completely erased the scenario I imagined would take place once we got on the ship.

"See ya, paloma," Lance said, following the prince back down the hallway we came through and around a corner.

I turned, the weak smile on my face growing into a grin. I was like a kid in a candy store! I ran up to the ship's door, slipping the key-card into a small slit in the metal, waiting for a green light to flash and the door opening with a satisfying hiss. I skipped inside, taking in everything at once. There was too much to calmly drink in- I was guzzling down a Red Bull. Little buttons and lights flashed all around me. The ship's inside was a simple rectangle shape, with seats on the sides along with storage space and a single pilot's seat in the front center. I took a seat in the pilot's chair, leaning back a moment to relish the squishy fabric against my back.

I got to work, pushing buttons, entering code, remembering the sequence of code I inserted into my own lion and Voltron. Ding, ding, ding! Tiny noises confirmed that what I'd done had worked, and I tested it, happy when I saw the ship's "legs" disappear from view completely.

\---

"Great work, Pidge!" Lotor exclaimed, carrying a couple of guns in his arms. Lance stood behind him, holding the silver rifle in his arms with a hungry look in his eyes.

"So, what's the plan?" I took a seat in the ship on one of the side benches. I buckled the seatbelt, smiling when Lance sat down beside me.

"We'll run in there and shoot up the place and rescue your fam!" Lance said, beaming. "Easy peasy."

Lotor shook his head, smiling. "Not quite. We need to get in without being spotted, which is where the cloak comes in. Once we're inside, we'll take down whoever's in our path before they can set off an alarm. Then, we break into the control room and turn off all security measures and locks."

"Sounds easy," I muttered. "Probably isn't, am I right?"

"Katie, with you, it'll be a piece of cake!" Lance said, kissing me on the cheek. "C'mon, have some faith in yourself."

"Aw, stop it," I gushed, turning away to hide my blush. But I did feel better about the mission. Then I remembered something, and it made my heart race with hope. "Lance, what if we find Shiro?"

He glanced at me, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "What makes you think we will?"

"Well, when he disappeared, he must have been captured by Haggar or something, right?"

"Highly likely," Lotor commented. "Zarkon's witch can do things that shouldn't be done." He mentioned her with a tone of disgust. "We shouldn't get distracted from our original mission, though. If we find your black paladin, we find him, but your family comes first."

"Definitely," I agreed. "Let's go."

Lotor started the engine of the ship, and within a minute, we were out into the dark expanse of space and stars. Seeing the galaxies and planets around me never got old, and I just wish I had a camera to capture every sky I experienced. 

Within two hours, we were within range of Zarkon's ship.  Lotor activated the cloaking device and we crept forward, waiting beside an opening. Nothing was coming out, it seemed, so Lotor pulled the ship inside the docking port and turned off the ignition.

"Home sweet home," he muttered darkly.

"Here goes nothing," Lance responded, grabbing a blaster and unbuckling his seatbelt. "Ready, Katie?"

I nodded, grabbing my own weapon. I hoped I wouldn't need it, because lately, I'd been too distracted by... certain people... to really focus enough to fight. 

Lotor was the first to leave the ship, whose cloaking device had mere minutes before wearing away. There was silence for a minute, and for sixty seconds I couldn't breathe... my lungs were swollen with anticipation. But a purple hand beckoned us outside, and trailing after Lance, I left the safety of the prince's ship.

"Seems to be clear. That's weird," Lance noted, squinting suspiciously and tightening his grip on the gun in his hands. "How do we know Zarkon's not expecting us?"

Lotor looked hurt. "We literally _cloaked_ ourselves, Lance. I went through every imaginable procedure to ensure that we would not be caught."

"Come on, Lance, give him a break," I pleaded. It was bad enough that Lance didn't at all trust Lotor... it was worse that both of them carried lethal weapons in their hands. "Let's go. I'm sure we'll figure out soon enough what's going on."

I made my way carefully towards the next hallway, and seeing that that one was empty, too, I continued to walk down it. "This is weird. Has Zarkon ever done something like this? Left his entire ship unguarded?"

Lotor shook his head and shrugged. "There may have been a recent attack."

"But there isn't any blood," I said, glancing at the pristine floors. It was completely a mystery to me how every hostile being was just... gone. "No severed robot body parts, either."

"I don't know, but we should definitely keep an eye out for anything creepy," Lance said, looking ready to shoot anything out of place. 

Suddenly, I heard footsteps clamoring down the hallway. Lance and Lotor both held up their guns, pointing them towards the turn. I held up my blaster, too, but I was more curious than afraid. 

A tall man rounded the corner, and I dropped my gun. He was six feet tall, with black hair and a white tuft on top of his head. I recognized his Galra-tech prosthetic arm anywhere. "Shiro!"

 

(Credit to honestlyprettychill on Instagram/ Tumblr)


	16. Lance

"Shiro!"

 

Pidge dropped her weapon and ran towards the former Black paladin, wrapping him in a hug. I kept my gun up, still hesitant to show the same excitement as my girlfriend. I glanced at Lotor beside me, who looked just as concerned as I was.

 

Something wasn't right.

 

But it was the same Shiro... at least, he seemed to be the same Shiro from where I stood, a good bit away.

 

"Lotor, something's wrong," I whispered. 

 

He nodded. "I agree. I never personally met your Shiro, but nobody just takes down every sentry on the ship. This is too weird."

 

"Lance! Come here, will ya?" Pidge motioned with her hands, and I reluctantly obeyed, but kept my gun in my grasp. "For someone who was so intent on finding Shiro just a while ago, you sure don't seem too happy to see him."

 

I shook my head, thinking maybe it was better to keep my concerns to myself. "Oh, sorry. I just... was really shocked to see him! Hey, Shiro!" I pulled the guy into a hug, looking at him closer. His hair was different, and were his eyes always that olive brown color? And his eyeliner, I remembered it being thicker than that. The man wears makeup, I couldn't forget that.

 

"Nice haircut, Shirogane," I said, feigning interest. "But Ka- Pidge, we need to find your family, remember? Shiro can come with us, but we've gotta go."

 

Pidge nodded. Lotor joined us, staring at the newest arrival with obvious distrust. 

 

Shiro spoke for the first time, giving an easy smile. "I'd be happy to help!"

 

"I'm sure you would be," I muttered, still completely confused. If Pidge was in any state of mind to analyze the situation, she'd figure it out before I could count to ten.

 

"Which might take longer than some," she'd probably say. 

 

Shiro led the way down various hallways, bringing us to all the right rooms, and time moved by in a dangerous blur. Everything sped by like I was in a car staring out the window. Except Shiro. There was something special about that, about the way the rest of the world moved at light-speed but Shiro was as defined as anything. 

 

Then I remembered something Red told me, about trusting my heart, because I'd need it. Right then, my heart was telling me this man wasn't there, wasn't real...

 

Somehow, that wasn't our Shiro. And Pidge was sputtering on like a broken faucet about everything that had happened in the past week- leaving out the part where we were making out on Lotor's ship, thankfully (Shiro or not, this man would pulverize me if he knew I'd even touched her). 

 

"Okay, all alarms are off, annnnd I have the exact map we need to find the prison where my dad and brother should be," Pidge said, breaking my trance. I looked around, seeing buttons and glowing things that made me dizzy trying to figure out what they were.

 

Leave the math to Pidge.

 

"But wait... it says... no, that can't be right," Pidge said, mumbling to herself. I came up behind her, resting my chin on her head. 

 

"What, paloma?" This was platonic, right? 

 

"This database says Matt isn't even here, Lance. He escaped months ago." Her face, in the reflection on the control panel's screen, was emotionless. 

 

"But your dad...?" I asked, afraid of her answer.

 

"He's here. But Matt-"

 

"It's okay, Pidge," I whispered. "We'll find him, don't worry. But let's not get distracted, 'kay?"

 

She nodded. then gazed up at me with big, amber eyes bursting at the seams with love. My hands itched to hold her and I so badly wanted to kiss her. "Thanks, Lance."

 

Shiro looked at the screen and nodded. "Sounds about right. Let's go, shall we?"

 

\---

 

A L L U R A

 

The big dining table felt lonely without my family... the people I had grown to love as my family. Keith. Shiro. Pidge. Lance. All gone. 

 

Shouldn't I be used to that, by now?

 

"Princess, is there something wrong?" Hunk sat in his usual seat at one end of the table, and I at the opposite, as if there was a silent agreement between us that our teammate's places were not to be touched. We refused to let them go.

 

"No, of course not, Hunk," I said, trying my best to smile. Coran was busy researching something in the castle's library. Lately, there'd been nothing to do. Two lions was barely enough to engage in any battle. I'd retrieved the green lion days ago from Shiza, handing it to Hunk who seemed eager to get his mind off of his missing friends. Our missing friends.

 

We were in even worse shape to go after Pidge and Lance, now that our leader was gone. Keith. My heart ached when I thought of him, of his pensive indigo gaze. His departure was still a fresh wound. He left on his own. Because he wanted to. Because I left his best friend behind. 

 

I would've left, too. 

 

"What are we going to do, Hunk? It's driving me mad just sitting here waiting for something to happen and destroy us all." 

 

Hunk sighed, grabbed his plate of food goo, and dumped it in the disposal. He sat beside me. "Funny how I thought I'd be able to eat after everything. We're not waiting for destruction, Princess, we're waiting for answers. Right now, we're stuck. Chances are, Lance is out there kickin' butt with Pidge and Keith is just being more emo than usual and decided he needed a break. Just because we're broken doesn't mean we're falling apart."

 

I smiled gratefully at Hunk. How did I deserve such a sweet Earthling in my presence? Why couldn't I love him?

 

Because I loved Keith. And Hunk loved Shay. Simple. Even when certain things seemed to be a better idea, I still ended up getting myself into the strangest predicaments.

 

"Hunk, you should be with Shay," I said, remembering the pretty Balmeran. 

 

 

"What? Allura, what are you talking about?" Hunk looked confused, even slightly hurt.

 

"This is my mess, Hunk... I have to deal with it myself. There is no reason you should be here anymore when-"

 

"Princess, I'm staying. Don't give up on us. We're still Voltron, even if we seem to be separated."


	17. Pidge

~~~~

 

 

 

I followed the map on the small tablet I held in my hands, running as fast as I could down every turn. I wasn't letting Dad get away from me again. 

 

"Pidge! Wait! We shouldn't be-" Lance's voice called out from behind me, but I snuffed out his voice in my head. 

 

He's not getting away. I'm so close. So, so close.

 

One more turn, and I'd reached the prison segment of the ship. A long hallway filled with cells stood in front of me, and soon, the pitter-patter of footsteps behind me pulled me out of my temporary adrenaline rush. 

 

"He's in one of these," I whispered to Lance, who had taken up a protective stance beside me. 

 

The fear on his face had softened, and I saw his hand fidget as if he wanted to hold mine, but we couldn't, not here, not in front of Shiro. I smiled softly at him, his ocean blue eyes smiling back at me.

 

"Let's check every cell. Shiro and Lotor, check the right cells. Lance, you're with me." I began looking at every name tag on the doors. I'd have to hope Dad told people his real name, Sam Holt, because the doors were solid, rather than the bars I was used to on Earth.

 

Lance gazed at every little card, mumbling things like, "No" or "Not here". I jogged to keep up with him. At the pace he was going, we'd find Dad before Shiro and Lotor even made it halfway through their side.

 

"Pidge!" Lance stopped in front of a cell, pointing at the sign.

 

SAM HOLT | EARTH 

 

I thrust myself into his arms, not caring if Shiro saw me. "You did it, Lance!"

 

He ruffled my hair, his hands lingering a second longer. 

 

Later, my eyes told him. I looked for Shiro and summoned him with a wave of my arm. Both Shiro and the prince ran to our side. 

 

"Pidge! That was fast," Shiro said. 

 

"It was actually Lance," I said, putting a hand on the Cuban's shoulder, gazing up at him as platonically as I could. He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Can you, like, obliterate this lock here?"

 

Shiro nodded, his metal arm heating up quickly. The molten metal slid off of the door like water, and it popped open easily.

 

I peeked inside, seeing something huddled in the corner, perhaps napping. Was it cold in here, or had the prisoner just lost hope?

 

"Dad?" I squeaked, nearly jumping when the shadow moved and two amber eyes looked up at me. A tuft of gray hair peeked out from under the blanket wrapped around his entire body, but just from that, I knew. Throwing myself at him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and- holy crow, Pidge, you baby!- started sobbing dramatically into his shoulder. "I missed you so much!"

 

"K-Katie? Is that you?" His voice was gravelly, and he let out a cough. Maybe he was sick. We needed to bring him to a healing pod as soon as-

 

-as soon as Allura accepted us back. I was still angry about that, fuming inside ever since Lance told me that Allura had practically kicked us to the curb. 

 

"Yes, Dad, it's me!"

 

"H-how did you find me? Where is your brother?" He looked confused, as if saying, "I know my daughter is extremely intelligent, but how on earth did she get off the planet?"

 

"I'm a Paladin of Voltron!" I glanced at Lance, who frowned. "Or, I was. And as for Matt, I don't know where he is. He's not here, that's for sure."

 

"You know what Matt would say to that? 'A Paladin? My baby sister?'" Dad smiled, and even though it was a weak smile, I grinned widely, too. "We should leave, before the guards make their rounds back-"

 

"There aren't any. The whole ship is empty."

 

"You're kidding?" Dad raised a thick gray eyebrow.

 

"Nope, not at all. It's weird. You're right, we've gotta get out of here before-"

 

"Shh," Dad hushed me for a moment, tilting his head and listening. There was a metal scraping sound, the sound of something powerful waiting to be released, like a steady hum. I followed his eyes, and noticed him staring at Shiro's bionic arm. 

 

"That's just Shiro's arm, Dad," I said.

 

"No, no... I've heard that same exact sound before. Around here. Walking the halls everyday-" Dad began to look hysterical. "That's not Shiro! There's something wrong with him! No prisoner simply strolls through this ship at his own-"

 

"Alright, that's enough," Shiro hissed. "You're clearly not well, Sam. Pidge, Lance, let's go. Bring Sam with you. We're heading back to the castle ship this minute."

 

Lotor glared at the man with a sudden hatred I didn't know he possessed. But why? Shiro was simply taking charge, like he used to do. He was right; whatever my dad was rambling on about was bound to be a side effect of being cooped up in this prison for who-knows-how-long. He was just sick, that's all. 

 

But that didn't explain the way everyone except me was glaring at Shiro as if he was the one who'd locked up my father and not Zarkon.

 

"Excuse me, but I'm coming, too," Lotor said. 

 

"Why should I let you?" Shiro snapped back. "You're the enemy."

 

"No, he's not, Shiro," I said softly. It wasn't his fault he thought that. He'd missed out on all the trust-building that'd been going on. I couldn't blame him for that.

 

"Last time I checked, I was the one who brought Lance and Pidge here to rescue Sam Holt, was I not?" 

 

"He was!" Lance agreed. I nodded fiercely. 

 

"How do I know this wasn't a trap?" Shiro asked, squinting suspiciously at Lotor. Maybe Shiro hit his head too hard somewhere.

 

"I'm literally proof it wasn't a trap," Dad put in.

 

"I'm talking to Princess Allura if it's the last thing I do!" Lotor growled. "The Paladins trust me, even if just a little, and I'm not about to waste the effort I've put into this just because some out-of-touch ex-leader thinks he can boss a prince around."

 

Shiro turned red with anger, but he kept his mouth shut. He trailed behind us, bionic arm making the same noises that my dad swore he heard before. 

 

We're all just stressed out. Shiro's just having a hard time dealing with Lotor, that's why he's acting so out of character.

 

So why did Lance keep shooting daggers at the man?

 

 

 

 

 


	18. Lance

 

 

 

Lotor led us back to his ship, and we each took our places on the side benches. I grabbed the seat by Pidge, who sat by Sam, who sat by "Shiro". I felt immediately left out when Pidge and her dad started talking about nerdy things, because then I couldn't contribute, but then at least I could think about how beautiful Pidge looked when her eyes lit up with excitement. 

 

I haven't kissed her since maybe this morning, or whenever it was that we woke up. It was killing me; now that I had someone like Katie to smother attention on and hold, I had to restrain myself from said smothering. 

 

Right then, I'd just have to settle for listening to her voice and hearing her laugh. As soon as we were alone, however...

 

I blushed, shaking the thought from my head, and tried to find something better to focus on. Shiro. Or whoever he was. He stared off into space, propping his head up with his bionic arm. He didn't look at anybody, didn't talk. 

 

Where was the real Shiro? If he were here, in this situation, he'd be laughing merrily alongside Sam and Pidge, smiling affectionately towards his friends, just like a space dad would. But this guy... he stared absentmindedly at nothing, at an empty gray wall devoid of emotion or any sort of explanation. 

 

I wanted to do something, get rid of him before he hurt someone close to me, but I didn't know what to do. I didn't have enough actual proof to use against him; all I had was distrust and the supporting distrust of others. That wasn't enough.

 

And Pidge would hate me if I did something to Shiro. She was so protective of people she loved. She was so smart when it came to technology and academics, but frankly, Pidge was oblivious to everything when it came to human behavior and mentality. If Shiro had suddenly grown a third arm, she would think nothing of it and blame it on stress or quintessence exposure.

 

"Hey, Lance, we're here," Pidge said, knocking me out of my trance. The ship was now docked in the Castle's bay. 

 

"Oh. Yeah. Lo siento, mi alma," I said. Thankfully, nobody else on board knew Spanish, that I knew of. 

 

Well, I was wrong.

 

Sam Holt's amber eyes flickered between me and Pidge for a moment, a knowing smile growing on his face. Shoot, if anybody knew a second language, it was the father of the uber-intelligent family who knew, like, everything. "Mi hija es tu alma, hmm? Good, we both agree on something." He winked at me before following his daughter out of the ship. He turned back towards me at the last second and whispered, "But don't worry, it's our little secret."

 

\---

 

"I'm so glad to have you all back," Allura said, leading us to the casual Lion's Den, as we called it, everyone taking seats on the couches. Lotor hadn't taken his eyes off of Allura once, though I figured it was for the same reason I used to stare at her when Voltron was first formed. Fine with me. I no longer cared. "The castle has been... rather empty since Keith has left and-"

 

"Wait, what?" I immediately felt a negative energy rush through me. "What do you mean, Keith left?" My best friend... betrayed Voltron?

 

"Oh. I've forgotten you didn't know. Keith joined the Blade of Marmora what feels like forever ago... soon after you went after Pidge, Lance." Allura looked guilty, as if all of this was her fault.

 

In a way, it was. I blamed her, entirely. Knowing Keith, he left because everyone he was loyal to... was gone. And Allura was doing a sucky job at being a friend right then, and a good job at being a princess. 

 

"I wonder why," I muttered darkly, in too bad of a mood to care that the princess looked hurt. It was her fault it took me so long to get to Pidge. It was her fault I did everything all by myself. It was her fault Keith was gone. 

 

"Wait, Lance-" Hunk rested a hand on my shoulder, but I pushed it off.

 

"No! Allura was too busy being a ruler to be a loyal friend, Hunk! Well, news flash for you, princess, there isn't anybody to rule here!" I sent a final menacing glare towards her, got up, and left the room. It didn't take long for me to find my own room and close the door, fall onto my bed, and release the breath I didn't know I was holding. 

 

I refused to think then. I knew if I let my mind wander, I'd think about how unreasonable I was being, how rude, how unthoughtful I was, and right then, I wanted to keep on being mad. It wasn't often I got like this, got so angry I refused to even listen to myself. I had every right to be out of my mind. I forced myself to close my eyes- no more thinking, just sleep- and right as I reached the cusp of the dream-state, there were three soft knocks at my door.

 

I jumped up, immediately rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. It was Allura. Who else would it be? Allura would come in and give me a scolding, or she'd try and apologize the best way she knew how and make me feel bad. 

 

"Lance," Pidge called, from the other side of the door. "It's me."

 

I opened it, and two amber eyes gazed up at me, pooled with concern. She didn't say anything, only took my hand and pulled me towards the bed, sitting down and using all five-feet of muscle to pull me down next to her.

 

"Are you okay?" she asked. I knew this kind of thing was new to her, different. She was so used to knowing exactly what to do in a situation because most of the time it involved science. But this was different, this revolved around emotion. And she was stepping into new territory. Tentatively, she leaned her head on my side, fingers awkwardly brushing against my palms as some sort of comforting mechanism. 

 

I sighed, leaning on her for a moment before answering. Couldn't I just forget the rest of the universe for a moment and just be here? Just imagine Katie and I in this room, a small capsule travelling through space towards nothing? "No. I'm... I'm not. Keith's gone, and... however much I seem to hate the guy sometimes, he's my best friend. And... now he's gone."

 

Thankfully, she didn't mention my tirade in the meeting room towards Allura, because I really didn't feel like thinking about that. "He's not gone, Lance. He's just... farther away. He's still fighting our battle with us, remember?"

 

I nodded, spreading out on the top of the bed and pulling her against me, using her chest as a pillow, just listening to her heart beating... and rapidly increasing. I felt myself smirking; I couldn't remember the last time I actually made any girl's heart race, and here I was, cuddling with the Katie Holt, making her heart run miles around her body like a racehorse on the beach. 

 

"I know you're skeptical about Shiro coming back, but... just give him a chance, okay? He's been through a lot." Pidge's breath fluttered around my hair when she spoke. 

 

Of course, she didn't understand the problem. I tended to be more observant than some, looking closely at detail. Pidge was observant, too, but she saw the things that should've been obvious, like behavioral changes. She saw things science, psychology, trauma could change. 

 

But I saw that he wasn't only acting differently, he even looked different. 

 

Prison didn't change somebody that much, did it? 

 

But if Pidge- if Katie, my Katie- wanted me to pretend things were okay, I could do that. For her, I'd pretend, at least until I had real proof. 

 

"Mhmm, of course, mi alma," I whispered, pulling her closer, tucking one arm under her and another across her body, flickering my eyes shut. 

 

"What does that even mean, you dork?" Pidge giggled. 

 

"It means my soul. You are my soul," I muttered, before feeling a tiny smack on top of my head.

 

"Lines that cheesy are illegal," she said between laughter. She pressed a tiny kiss on the back of my head. "Love you, Lance."

 

"I love you, too, Katie."


	19. Lance

"Hello? Pidge, are you in here?" There was rapid knocking at Pidge's door. My eyes snapped open and I groaned sleepily, turning over to find myself face-to-face with Katie. Her arms clutched me tightly.

 

"Pidge, wake up! Do you know where Lance is?" Hunk's voice nearly startled me, and I quickly realized that I'd fallen asleep in Katie's bed last night and no one else was supposed to find out.

 

"Quiznak, Katie, wake up!" I hissed in her ear, shoving her slightly. She mumbled some obscenities before her eyes opened- like two golden suns- and jumped up.

 

"Distract Hunk, got it," she mumbled, heading for the door. I dove into a nearby closet, hiding behind a- trash version of myself?- and two little trash puffs, green and blue. I heard Katie open the door and yawn, saying, "Hunk? What is it?"

 

"I can't find Lance. He's not in his room."

 

"Ok, so?" Katie said, trying to look as nonchalant about it as possible.

 

"So... have you seen him?" Hunk peered into the room.

 

"Try looking in his Lion Pit," Katie suggested. "I'm sure he's here somewhere."

 

Hunk shrugged. "Alright, thanks. I'll go check." He walked off, and when I couldn't hear footsteps anymore, I stepped out.

 

"All clear," Katie whispered, embracing me in a tight hug. "Now you should leave before he suspects anything."

 

I buried my face in her hair. "Yeah, yeah. Gimme a minute." We stood like that for a moment, just breathing each other's air. Reluctantly, I released her and walked out of the room casually. I made my way into the dining room and sat down for breakfast. Hunk strolled in not long after, followed by Katie.

 

"Oh? You're here, Lance," Hunk said, raising an eyebrow.

 

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, tilting my head to the side in mock confusion.

 

"I was looking for you all over but couldn't find you."

 

"You must suck at hide-and-seek then," I quipped, winking at Katie.

 

"Wait, that's a great idea! We could play hide-and-seek in the castle!" Katie nearly jumped out of her seat. She grinned wickedly, adding, "I have the best hiding spot. It'll take you hours to find me."

 

Allura smiled. "Yes, paladins, what a wonderful idea! We could all play your Earth game together!"

 

Coran thought that was a lovely idea, too. Lotor, who had joined the paladins for breakfast, looked intrigued.

 

"What is this 'hide-and-seek?'" Lotor asked, leaning his chin on his hand.

 

Katie grinned at me, gesturing for me to explain.

 

"Well, it's pretty much in the name. One person is 'it,' and everyone else hides. Whoever's 'it' has to count to say, 100, then yell, 'Ready or not, here I come!' and begin the search for the hiding people. The last person caught is the next 'it'."

 

Allura looked excited. "That sounds a lot like something we played on Altea! Remember, Coran?"

 

The ginger man nodded, beginning his animated storytelling. "Oh, yes! King Alfor made a huge deal out of the game every year, with the winner of each round winning an honorable medal among our people. Though ours was much more dangerous than yours. Instead of a human being 'it,' as you say, we sent bloodthirsty Walapogs into the corridors of a huge maze filled with all kinds of hiding spots. There were traps, loose weapons, all kinds of hysterical things to keep us on our toes. Some Alteans even died playing the game!"

 

"Wow," said Hunk, eyes round with shock. "That's one brutal game of hide-and-seek."

 

"Well, normally, we don't put lives at risk in our version," Katie said. "Buuut you know what would be fun? Releasing sentries to find us and then we can all hide!"

 

Lotor looked at Shiro sitting quietly beside Allura. "Will he be playing?"

 

"Are you calling him old? Heck, I'm playing!" Sam Holt said, his amber eyes twinkling humorously.

 

Lotor's yellow eyes met mine, conveying how much mistrust he had for Shiro. Well, I agreed.

 

"Alright, I'll reset one of our practice dummies while the rest of you hide," Katie volunteered, pushing her glasses up her nose. She looked positively radiant when she was in her element.

 

"You go, Pidgey," I said. "What are our restrictions?"

 

"We are confined to the castle," Katie answered. "And no weapons."

 

We all nodded in agreement, and I found myself wondering if Keith would've played it with us. I imagined him groaning about how childish it was, but reluctantly giving in to Allura's pleas.

 

But he wasn't there now. Lotor would just have to take his place.

 

I watched as Lotor stole a glance at the princess and added, in more than one aspect of life.

 

"Alright, let's split!" Hunk called, running as fast as he could towards the exit, soon afterward slipping and falling into a blob on the floor. "I'm okay!"

 

We couldn't hold back our laughter. I held out a hand to help the big guy out, then immediately dashed toward somewhere the sentry would never find me. Somewhere Katie'd be proud of me hiding.

 

The vents.

 

I found the nearest entryway and unlocked it, trying to mentally calculate— poorly, may I add— how well I'd fit in the vent. I shrugged, thinking it didn't matter, and backed into it. Hopefully it wasn't as dusty as I imagined vents would be at home. Fresh air fluttered underneath my shirt and ruffled my messy hair. I still hadn't fixed it after my late-night cuddle session with Katie.

 

Soon after I'd miraculously fit into the vent and closed the doorway again, an automated voice began counting loudly over the intercom.

 

"One. Two. Three."

 

How long was it counting for, anyway? How'd it plan on finding us? Knowing Katie, she made the sentry lock on to our heat signatures.

 

"Four. Five. Six."

 

Tiny feet pitter-pattered past my vent, a flurry of honey-golden hair just barely escaping my line of vision.

 

"Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten..." The voice trailed off strangely, going completely silent. Was it finished already?

 

Before I had time to wonder, I heard it again, just as loud and clear. "Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen..." It continued to count until at least fifty (honestly, I stopped paying attention and nearly dozed off where I was).

 

"Ready or not, here I come!"

 

This was it. I was a master at hide-and-seek, and not even a robot was going to change that.

 

I heard something moving through the vents behind me and struggled to turn and see.

 

"Lance?" Katie's surprised whisper reached my ears.

 

"Hey," I said. Then I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively... then immediately facepalmed, because she couldn't see it. "Enjoying the view back there?"

 

"Very," she replied sarcastically. "Especially liking the dust you've got stuck all over your butt. Real nice."

 

"Aw, c'mon! I just wash..." I trailed off as mechanical footsteps echoed through the hallway we were in. "Shh."

 

The robot appeared in front of the vent and stopped, its gray, metal boots clinking to a standstill. I froze in place, my heart beating wildly. It paused a moment before continuing on down the hallway.

 

"Phew," I whispered back to Katie. "I thought we were dead."

 

"You really think I'd program it to find me first?" Katie asked, and I could practically feel her smug grin.

 

"You mean you programmed it to go after certain people first?" I asked, amazed and horrified that she'd go so far as to cheat in hide-and-seek.

 

"Yup!"

 

"So who's it after first?" I asked, holding back my laugh.

 

"Remember at the Garrison when we'd play? Guess who always got caught first?" Her voice sounded wistful, like she was longing for that time on Earth, even in the Garrison.

 

I chuckled. "Hunk. He was too big to hide in anything, really, and always made a fool of himself hiding in ridiculously obvious places."

 

"Yeah," she commented. "I thought it'd be funny."

 

We soon heard a, "Found you!" that sounded distant, and a boyish yell.

 

"Hey, it got 'em!" I said, pumping my fist in the air.

 

"Help! Somebody help me!" Hunk's voice echoed throughout the castle, which sent my blood going cold. "The robot is attacking!"

 

 


	20. Lance

"Hunk! He's so overdramatic!" Katie laughed, scooting out of the vent after me and keeling over in giggles. "I wish I'd programmed the robot to record his reaction!"

 

"Help!" Hunk's calls became more desperate, echoing down the hallways with increasing urgency.

 

"Katie... I think something's wrong..." I mumbled, pulling her off the ground. "Seriously... he sounds like he's in trouble."

 

Katie's amber eyes widened, and she began talking to herself. "We have no weapons..." Without a warning, she began racing down the hallway, beaconing me towards her with a hand.

 

I followed after her, my legs carrying me ahead of Katie before I knew it, and soon I was just around the corner from Hunk. "Hold on Hunk, we're coming!"

 

We rounded the corner and stopped to see Prince Lotor struggling to rip a robot off of Hunk, who was pinned to the ground and breathing heavily. Lotor opened the panel in the back of the robot and shredded the wires, plucking the sentry with ease off of the yellow paladin.

 

"Lotor! What happened?" Katie asked, hurrying to his side. I tried to swallow the jealousy that was raising in my throat like bile. Stop it, Lance. She likes you. Not that pompous purple prince.

 

"Something— or someone— tampered with the sentry after you did, Pidge," Lotor said, glancing at me.

 

"It wasn't me! I know zip about programming!" I cried defensively.

 

He shook his head, as if communicating that I didn't quite get what he was trying to say, and it struck me. "Shiro."

 

He nodded. "He has been acting awfully strange since he returned, Lance."

 

"Yeah," I agreed.

 

"Cut Shiro some slack!" Katie snapped, glaring at the both of us. "You two have done nothing but attack him since he's been back!"

 

"He's been acting weird!" I yelled.

 

"Surely, you are not that blind, paladin?"

 

"He called your dad sick."

 

"He has hardly spoken!"

 

Katie spun around to face us, her skin red with anger. Her amber eyes boiled with rage and, deeper down, hurt.

 

"Katie..."

 

"No! I'm... I'm pissed off, Lance! Of course he's quiet. He's been imprisoned on a Galran ship. He's haunted by the memories stuck inside of him. He loses a part of his sanity every time he goes back, Lance." Her voice had softened, no longer the tirade of angry words spilling from her body. But her words struck me no less. "I thought you, of all people, would be the most understanding. You were always so perspective." She blinked sadly at me, tears brimming her eyes, but she swiped them away and turned to walk somewhere else.

 

"Pidge, we- we need to figure out who did this!"

 

"It was just a minor malfunction on my part, Lance. Nobody on this team is stupid enough to try and reprogram a robot and sic it on their own teammate." Katie turned to look at me one more time. "Except maybe someone who currently would do anything to prove a certain man is dangerous." Then she left, and didn't turn back. And I didn't stop her.

 

"What- what just happened?" Hunk asked. "Why would Shiro be responsible for this? Why would you, Lance?"

 

"When we rescued Sam Holt from the Galran ship in which he was being held prisoner, Shiro was found walking around the ship by himself. Freely," Lotor explained. "Sam Holt thought something was off about the man, and I and Lance agreed. Shiro waved it off as Sam being unwell."

 

"So... he hijacked Pidge's robot because he's acting strange? I'm not following," Hunk said, an eyebrow raised.

 

"It's not that he's acting strange, it's that... that's not Shiro."

 

"What."

 

"I have seen the same strange behavior in one of my own generals, Narti," Lotor commented quietly.

 

"Narti? You mean the cat lady?" I asked. "Isn't she like, dead?"

 

"Lance!" Hunk hissed. "Have some tact, man!"

 

"It is fine," Lotor said, though his yellow eyes narrowed towards me. "Yes. The 'cat lady.' Narti was showing the same symptoms as your own Shiro. Reservation, quietness, no words. Though Narti never spoke anyway. I may seem sometimes not to care about my generals, but each were very important to me before they just left me for their own promised safety. Haggar is capable of controlling bodies, Lance. She is a witch and will stop at nothing to harm Voltron or her enemies. If she cannot defeat Voltron directly, she will infiltrate it through the eyes of one of her very own. I had to kill Narti myself, before she brought harm to any of my generals or me."

 

"You... had to kill her yourself?" I whispered, afraid my voice would crack.

 

"I am afraid so," Lotor replied. I could tell this was a tender subject for him, but I wanted to be sure of what he said. If he was right... if Shiro was in the control of Haggar herself, that meant...

 

"There must be some other way," I said, thrumming my long, dark fingers on my side.

 

"Lance, if it comes down to Shiro or your Katie, which one would you let go?" Your Katie. I shivered slightly, thinking of her golden eyes, her glasses as she pushed them up the bridge of her nose.

 

Selfishly, I'd take out Shiro in a heartbeat.

 

"You have to decide what to do before someone gets hurt. Only you, Lance," Lotor said.

 

"Wait, Lance, you're not considering..." Hunk. Right. He was still here. His brown eyes widened with fear.

 

"Hunk, I'm not considering anything! Calm down, will you?" I wished Katie was here with me. She would've seen the logical solution... if only she were in the right state of mind. I knew how hard it'd be for her to accept the truth that Shiro wasn't really Shiro at all, but someone under his guise. Why was it that in any emotional situation, I had the most sense? Maybe Katie was just like a computer... she simply could not compute simple things like making decisions that threw logic out the window.

 

Like deciding what to do with a potential murderer. Or a clone. Or whatever the quiznak 'Shiro' was.

 

"So, what do you plan on doing, Lance?" Hunk asked, no longer looking like a deer in the headlights.

 

"Plan on doing for what?"

 

I turned at the voice behind me and saw the subject we'd been discussing; 'Shiro' stood looking down at me cautiously, and from the glint in his olive eyes, I knew.

 

He'd heard everything.

 

 

 


	21. Lance

I felt my heart plummet quickly to its doom at the sight of the man I used to know as my hero.

 

"S-Shiro!" I stuttered, straightening myself. "We were— we were just planning something— something..."

 

"Something fun!" Hunk interrupted, fortunately. "It's um, Lotor's second day on the ship!"

 

'Shiro' raised an eyebrow. "We need to throw him a party for that?"

 

I nodded. "In case you haven't noticed, Hunk finds every excuse to make food in large amounts. But, you haven't noticed, have you, Shiro?" I tried to put on my most innocent smile, while communicating that I knew everything. This was how it was going to go down, was it? He was going to know my plans, and I would know his, both of us waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

 

"I guess I just took it for granted," Shiro responded coolly, narrowing his eyes at me. "Sometimes routine becomes invisible."

 

Lotor stepped in between us, and looked at me for a moment. "Lance, would you do me a favor and find the Green Paladin for me? I have a few things she may find interesting." He handed me a slip of paper, eyeing me carefully. Read it later. "And Shiro and I will report to Princess Allura to see if there is anything we can do, right, Shiro?"

 

Shiro nodded, after hesitating, but followed after the prince. I gulped, sharing a worried glance with Hunk.

 

"He heard everything," I whispered, looking around the corner to see if they were out of earshot. "I- we're screwed, Hunk."

 

He didn't have any encouraging words to offer. For once, my wise, peace-making buddy was a well gone dry for help. I was on my own. Or maybe, he was just as scared as I was.

 

Scared. What a word to use, considering I was a legendary space pilot who constantly bowled over Galran fighter ships on a daily basis. Yet, the thought of protecting my team from one of its own was terrifying.

 

What would it come to? Katie loved Shiro like an older brother; there was no doubt she probably liked him at some point or another. And I was going to take  him away from her.

 

I made my way to Katie's room, thinking of any way to comfort her without promising to drop my mission. I was doing this for her. Her safety was my motivation. How could she ever believe otherwise? To her room she ran, her logic jumping out the window and Emotion moving over to take the wheel. She knew him better than anyone, except Keith. Why couldn't she see that this wasn't him?

 

I opened the letter outside her door and looked at the neat handwriting.

 

You can fix this, Lance. We'll need all the support we can get. You're not alone in this.

 

I smiled, thinking about the purple prince. He wasn't there to come between Katie and I. He was desperate for trust, desperate for someone to call an ally. He'd found that in Katie, and I just had to accept that.

 

I knocked on Katie's bedroom door, waiting for a response. "Pidge?" I called, using her team name just in case someone heard me.

 

There was silence, then a grunt of effort as somebody stood up and rustled around, approaching the door. It slid open and Katie stood before me, her hair more of a wreck than usual, individual hairs sticking up like somebody had rubbed a balloon on her head. Her face was red— not from blushing, but from the salty tear trails staining her cheeks. Her glasses were crooked, which she quickly pushed up the bridge of her nose in an attempt to fix her appearance.

 

"Lance," Katie said, avoiding my eye contact. "Did you need something?"

 

I looked around the hallway— the coast was clear— and nudged my way past the tiny girl into her room.

 

"Lance, what are you doing?" Katie said, shutting the door. "I'm— I'm still mad at you." She tried to muster the strength for a grimace but just looked pitifully tired. I pulled her towards me into a hug, which she feebly tried to reject but gave up fighting after about thirty seconds of being suffocated by the scent of the ocean that still hadn't washed out of my jacket.

 

That's why I never washed it. Not until I went back home. Even if it smelled awful. It was my reminder of my family, of my brothers running around the house with it, and my sister Veronica taking selfies in it because she thought it made her look cool.

 

And the ocean. It reminded me of the ocean, of salt water, of sand. And the wind, running through my hair.

 

"You're not really mad at me," I muttered into her hair, closing my eyes. I could have these fleeting moments of peace, at least until the world fell apart.

 

"Yes, I am," Katie said. "I just..." She sighed, relaxing in my embrace. "I care about Shiro. A lot." She began stuttering, "I mean, not like that! I love you, Lance. But Shiro's like a second father to me. And it hurts to see my boyfriend having issues with my... friend."

 

I had promised myself not to talk about Shiro while I was with her. That was my problem to deal with. "I know," I said, trying out something neutral, hoping she wouldn't notice.

 

But it didn't slip by her. "Lance, you never not contribute. You still don't like him, do you?"

 

I didn't answer at first, afraid of what she would say.

 

"Do you?" she hissed, jumping up. "Do you? I know you don't like him. Neither does Lotor. And probably Hunk, now that you've talked to him. You're turning them against Shiro when you don't even have proof that there's anything wrong with him!"

 

"I have proof. But it doesn't matter. I'm not talking about it," I said, in a hurried attempt to cover up my sentence.

 

"Lance, we need to talk about it," Katie said. "You're— you're dangerous. How do I know you won't hurt him?"

 

"I'm dangerous? What about Shiro? He insulted your father and you're not upset about that?" Was she now accusing me of planning something?

 

Wasn't I? Who was even the insane one now? Was it a colossal mixture of both Katie's emotions and my protectiveness?

 

Katie's amber eyes were aflame with anger. "What about how you insulted Shiro? What about how you accused me of being interested in Lotor? You think you're perfect?"

 

I felt the sting of tears in my eyes. No, I would not cry, not in front of Katie, not like this. Through the gathering blur in my eyes, I saw Katie's hard exterior crack, her anger softening into concern.

 

"Lance, I'm sor—"

 

"No. I'm leaving," I said, turning to walk out. "I'm going to talk to Keith. Never thought I'd rather talk to the most emo in the group rather than my girlfriend."

 

I didn't mean it; Keith was my best friend. Our rivalry was always friendly, but Keith was a hothead. But right then, I needed someone who was level enough to see the truth. Lotor was busy, Hunk hated taking sides, and obviously Shiro was off the list.

 

But I wasn't going to do something Ka— no, Pidge would do. I wasn't just going to leave without warning.

 

Marching almost automatically down the hallway, I made my way towards the main deck where Lotor, Allura, and Shiro would be. I wasn't going to say anything about the situation. Maybe I could just say I was missing my friend? I was, after all.

 

I opened the door to see the three calmly conversing, though it seemed Allura and Lotor were debating over something with Shiro. Was that really proof?

 

"Oh, Lance! How are you?" Allura beamed, looking relieved that I had arrived and distracted her from the conversation. Seeing my unhappiness, she stood and approached me. "What is wrong?"

 

I tried my best to sound sad and not angry. "I— I just miss Keith, ya know? It's been hard not having him here t-to keep me company." It was hard to keep the tears I felt ready to leap from their cage from doing so.

 

Allura rushed forward and embraced me, giving me a chaste hug. I released the tears I'd been holding, wrapping my arms around Allura and burying my head into her shoulder.

 

"Maybe you should take a couple days off to visit your friend?" Allura suggested.

 

"Really? I can?" I began to swipe the tears away, putting on a watery smile.

 

Allura nodded. "Of course. If anything goes wrong, we have Shiro, Sam, and Lotor to make up for your absence." She looked at the floor and added, "And send Keith my love."

 

I nodded, not having registered her words until I was already in Red, exiting the castle ship.

 

"Wait, love?!"

 

 

 

 

 

 


	22. Lance

~~~~

"Keith, can I talk to Keith?" One of the Blade members looked at me as if I was a nuisance. I was almost irritated with their carelessness.

 

"Kogane is currently on a mission," the BoM member replied. "Come back when—"

 

"Lance!" Something hit me hard from behind, nearly knocking me over completely.

 

I turned and saw my best friend Keith in his dark Blade suit, his hair sweaty from the helmet in his hand. "Keith, buddy, I missed you!"

 

The boy I'd known most for his grumpy exterior beamed widely at me, his indigo eyes sparkling in the glow of the building. "Me too. I thought..." His smile disappeared, revealing a sad smile. "Did Allura finally change her mind and go after you and Pidge?"

 

Right. The last time I'd seen him was when we were battling Zarkon, and Pidge and I had crashed on Shiza. How long ago was that? It felt like forever ago, and so much had happened since then. "No... Allura didn't." And then I remembered my argument with Allura, and how upset I'd been. And how the princess had simply forgiven me as if nothing happened. She even hugged me. Tried to comfort me. "But I think I can forgive her. It was Lotor who brought us back."

 

Keith tensed up at the prince's name. "You don't mean our enemy, do you?"

 

"The only enemy now is Zarkon," I answered, hoping I'd get adequate time to fill him in later. "Lotor's our friend."

 

"I have a feeling you didn't come to talk about Lotor, did you?"

 

—-

 

"So this is your new room, huh?" I said, deciding to spread myself on the comfortable looking bed while Keith raised an eyebrow at me. "The Blade treats you well." Maybe there was a hint if sorrow in my voice. He wasn't coming back.

 

"You know why I left, right?" Keith said, his smile from earlier almost forgotten in this tirade of negativity. "It was because of you and Pidge. I couldn't stand and watch as Allura just... forgot our team mates. Especially my best friend."

 

I felt momentarily touched by Keith's rare display of platonic affection. "Thanks, Keith. But we're fine, now. You can come back."

 

"I don't know, Lance," Keith whispered, sitting beside me. "I feel like what I am doesn't matter to these guys, considering most of them are Galran as well."

 

"You're still on that?" I asked. I thought that whole Keith-is-a-Galra thing melted away with time long ago. "None of us care what you are, Keith."

 

"Allura cares," Keith snapped. "She won't see me as anything more than a friend because I'm Galran!"

 

Oh. So that was what this was about. Allura loved Keith but didn't tell him, and Keith loved Allura but... was still caught up on old news.

 

"You like Allura?" I asked, trying not to tease him with my tone.

 

Keith grimaced. "It's not a matter of like, Lance. I hate that word. It's so shallow. It's more than that. It's— it's..." He didn't want to say it. I knew that with Keith, admitting his emotions was hard for him. He thought it made him vulnerable.

 

I placed a hand on his shoulder and offered a friendly smile. "She loves you, too. When I left, she told me to send you her love. But..."

 

"But what?"

 

"You've got to make your move before Lotor does. He's been making eyes at her ever since he dropped Pidge and me off. Sooner or later, Lotor's gonna get Allura by herself and—"

 

"Lance!" Keith yelled, turning red with anger. "That's enough."

 

"Okay, Dad," I joked, but then remembered Shiro. Or 'Shiro'. Whatever. "Speaking of, Shiro's back."

 

Keith's eyes lit up on cue. "Really?" It was adorable to see my friend light up so quickly at the mention of his mentor.

 

"Yeah... but something's wrong. He's not the same. He's been... off. Doesn't even look the same. I'm pretty sure his eye color changed!"

 

Keith, deep in concentration, mumbled, "So what are you saying?"

 

"I'm saying the tall black paladin in our castle ship right now is not Shiro," I answered. "And Lotor agrees with me."

 

"Lotor's opinion doesn't count," Keith grumbled.

 

"Just because you're jealous doesn't mean you can completely disregard the guy's opinions. He agrees with me and you probably would, too," I said. "Come back and see for yourself."

 

"But I just got here!" Keith said. "I can't leave for a break now. I'm trying to impress them."

 

"Keith," I said, lowering my voice. "Our team is in danger. I need your help to stop Shiro before someone gets hurt. Or worse."

 

"We're constantly in danger. Allura didn't help you, why should I help her?" Keith looked like he was struggling with a decision. Maybe he, like everyone else, was just afraid that maybe they were wrong. Maybe Lance is wrong and there's nothing wrong with Shiro.

 

"Please, Keith," I pleaded. "I can't do this alone."

 

"I'm sorry, Lance," he answered. "I... I just don't think I could go back. Not after..."

 

I stood up, nearly banging my head on the bottom of the top bunk. I could feel my pulse racing angrily. "This isn't about Allura, Keith! This is about Voltron! Don't you care anymore? Have you just given up?"

 

Keith, equally angry, stood up to face me. "Yes, Lance, I have! Why should I keep fighting a war we'll never win? How many wars will we have to fight before we can finally go home? How many times will I have to watch people lose their humanity because they're just so tired of fighting? We'll defeat Zarkon but there will always be someone to replace him! I'm tired of fighting, Lance. Going back to that castle... to Allura... will just give me a false hope that something better is up ahead. Why lie to myself?"

 

So this was it? Was everyone just giving up? We were so close to winning and now... we're fighting our own battles.

 

When will I get to take Katie home and let her meet my family? When will I see them again? Will I? Will I always just be Lance, the love-stricken loser? When will... when will...

 

"Lance— I'm... I'm sorry," Keith whispered, suddenly frightened by the tears rolling down my face for the second time today.

 

"I'm going back," I said, trying to wipe away the tears. First my girlfriend, now my best friend. Who was next, and why?


	23. Pidge

"Hey, Pidge, can I come in?"

 

I groaned and flopped off my bed, making my way towards the door. Opening it, I didn't bother attempting a smile. "Hunk."

 

The tall boy gave a sweet, innocent smile as he looked down at me. "Hey! You're alive! You've been in here for hours. Aren't you hungry?" He held out a not-at-all-tempting bowl of food goo towards me.

 

"Welcome to Pidge, Hunk," I commented. "I happen to live in my room."

 

He came in, shutting the door and making himself comfortable on my beanbag chair. "Can we talk? I feel like there's been a lot of tension lately."

 

I snorted. "Yeah, I guess."

 

"What's up with you and Lance?" His question was genuinely innocent; no harm in answering it, if only there hadn't been anything between us. But we were still keeping us a secret.

 

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from raising an octave. "We're— we're just friends." Quiznak, that wasn't even what he was asking! He wanted to know our drama, not our relationship status.

 

Hunk's lips curled in a toothy smile. "Aha! So you two are a thing!"

 

I buried my head in my hands. "Hunk, please don't tell anyone."

 

"Why not?"

 

There was something I'd been dreading to think about. Why were we hiding, again? Because other team members couldn't pursue their love interests?

 

"Because it's not fair," I answered. "You can't be with Shay—"

 

"Who said I couldn't?" Hunk asked. "I simply choose not to pursue her, Pidge."

 

"But don't you love her?"

 

He smiled sadly. "I want to go back home, and she doesn't want to leave her people. Long distance relationships have worked before but... not over this long a distance. There's more love involved in letting the other go than causing separation from our homes and families."

 

There's more love involved in letting each other go. "Wow. I... never thought of it that way."

 

"Think about Keith and Allura," Hunk said. "You've noticed the tension between them."

 

"Obviously."

 

"Keith, however much he insists to us he doesn't like her, knows deep down he cares for her. But..." He nodded his head towards me to finish the sentence.

 

"But she's an Altean princess who travels the universe and he's just like us, somebody stolen from their home to fight a war they never knew existed," I said. "So he's better off pretending those feelings don't exist."

 

Hunk nodded. "Not everyone's as fortunate as you are, Pidge, to fall in love with someone who loves your home as much as you do."

 

It never dawned on me that I was lucky. I guess I always thought Lance reciprocating my feelings in the first place was a miracle, but the stars aligning to put us together, knowing we could both return to earth together? The thought had never crossed my mind. I guess I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend.

 

"And about Shiro..." Hunk pressed, looking at me expectantly. "What did Lance tell you?"

 

If it weren't Hunk talking to me, I would've been irate. I didn't want to talk about Shiro, not when everyone else was suddenly against him. "He told me that Shiro simply wasn't Shiro. Which doesn't make sense, because how is that possible? Lance says he's acting differently, that his eyes don't even look the same, but how can I agree with him if I honestly don't remember?"

 

"Lance does pay attention to details like that better than us," Hunk commented. "And we didn't believe in aliens before we left earth, who's to say that anything is impossible anymore?"

 

"But how could he be different? What if he's just healing from prison with the Galra? There's nothing wrong with him," I said. Who was I trying to convince? Was I just slowly losing my mind? What if Lance was right?

 

"Would Lance try and tell you this if he didn't truly believe it?"

 

I shook my head. "No, Shiro means as much to him as he does to me. I know he believes it, but... he doesn't have any proof..."

 

"He has no scientific proof," Hunk pointed out. "Evidence comes in many formats. Maybe you just need to see for yourself what Shiro's like. I know you're scared Lance is right. I know you don't want to lose someone else. But please, Pidge, we need your support."

 

I sighed, grasping onto the covers of my bed, sweaty palms clenching tightly to fabric. I was scared. For, I hated to admit, certainly not the first time since I joined Voltron. For the longest time, I could tell myself that if it had no scientific back-up that I could see, it simply wasn't true at all.

 

Science couldn't explain how we'd completely missed entire civilizations of aliens for years, even after Keith was born. His mother, a Galran, had to have come to Earth at some point, right? How did we not know that a foreign life form was interacting with our own? And science couldn't explain how Lance, flirtatious with every shiny thing and wide-hipped feminine creature in the galaxy except one, fell in love with the least feminine one. Science couldn't explain that he found a different kind of beauty in me and that suddenly, looks no longer mattered.

 

So what was the point then? Why did I indulge in this subject so much more than any other, if it barely even scratched the surface of the unknown? It raised so many questions, kept me hungry for answers science simply wasn't ready to give. Maybe that was it. I was hungry for the unknown, and science's lack of information made me love all the things it made me realize I didn't know I didn't know.

 

So this... thing with Shiro... was just another unanswered question waiting to be asked. I'd never thought of our situation as something other than unthinkable and terrifying. But I just needed a different perspective. I was Katie Holt, an actual genius. I could face my fears. Encountering Shiro and seeing the truth was my fear, and I guess I knew Lance was right all along. I'd seen Shiro's strange behavior firsthand, but I had blocked it out and blamed it on imprisonment insanity. Lance was on to something, but I needed to see again, in a clear state of mind, for myself.


	24. Pidge

After thanking Hunk for his help, I decided to explore the castle for clues. Maybe, for a moment, I had to stop thinking scientifically and think like Lance. What would Lance do in this situation? What had he been doing? Lance had been paying attention to details that I usually overlooked. I usually looked for something blatantly scientific, like chemicals or DNA or fingerprints. I never really thought to look at just Shiro himself, just sit and people-watch. To observe Shiro's essence, his personality, his behavior, and compare it with his pre-capture self.

 

So Lance was more into psychology! He was a scientist, but of a different breed! I'd undermined the importance of observing people and not just the things swimming in the veins of people. I felt embarrassed for just realizing that Holy Crow, Lance is actually pretty smart.

 

I walked casually down the hallways, heading towards the main meeting room. It was empty. The couches were pristine, completely untouched, as if everyone was weighed down with the tension of me and Lance and Shiro, and had no energy to simply lounge.

 

I headed to the control deck next, spotting Allura and Coran having a conversation but in a language I didn't understand, most likely Altean. The two smiled at me and waved, and I waved back, continuing my walk.

 

Next was the training room. It was in use, but what surprised me was that Lotor was using it. He was swift in his actions, using only hand-to-hand combat with the robots we had in place. I felt a shimmer of admiration for the prince, realizing that underneath the Galran exterior was a potential hero. He could be so much more with our teamwork.

 

So where was Shiro? He wasn't anywhere.... but I still hadn't checked the hangars. The lions. Maybe he was checking on the black lion? Or maybe Allura was giving it back to him?

 

"Pidge!" I heard two sets of footsteps behind me and turned to see Hunk calling after me and my dad behind him.

 

"Hey Hunk. Dad," I said, greeting them.

 

"Shiro's getting the black lion," Hunk said, nearly out if breath. "You're heading towards the hangars, aren't you?"

 

I nodded, somehow not surprised that we'd both had the same idea. "Yeah."

 

"Let's go... observe, shall we?" Hunk said, leading the way.

 

Dad fell in step beside me, his hand on my shoulder as we walked. "I'm so happy you finally..." He was finding a way to word his sentence that didn't offend me.

 

"That I finally opened myself to suggestions?" I finished for him, not at all offended. He was right. It'd taken me long enough to at least be aware that something might be wrong, to accept the possibility of a truth. I'd been lying to myself, and though it still hurt to think of Shiro as anything other than Space Dad, I had to look at other options.

 

"Yes," Dad said. "I know this is hard for you. We all look like we're teaming up on him, don't we?"

 

"That's what it appeared to be, yeah," I agreed. "And I'm still not coming to any conclusions until I've—"

 

"Shh!" Hunk said from up ahead, signaling for us to come closer. We were right outside the black lion's hangar. Hunk cracked the door open a bit, peering in.

 

I held my breath, waiting for something to happen. I shook my head to rid my heart of the fear that had taken hold; Shiro was still Shiro until proven guilty.

 

"Look. He's... trying to get in," Hunk whispered as we crowded around the door.

 

There stood Shiro, standing before the huge, magnificent black lion. He gazed up at the lion with frustration in his olive colored eyes. The lion's eyes were a dull yellow; usually, for a paladin, they lit up in acceptance.

 

"The black lion isn't accepting Shiro as her paladin," Hunk whispered. "Shouldn't she recognize him?"

 

"She should," I agreed. "Unless..."

 

I heard a strange voice, saying, "That is not my Shiro." I looked up to see the black lion facing me, and it seemed to be growling. Was the lion speaking to me? I'd always known we had a special bond with our own lions, but other lions? Unheard of. Maybe Black was just as desperate as Lance and Hunk for someone to take action against the alleged fake.

 

"Guys, the black lion just..."

 

"Yeah, I heard it, too," Hunk whispered back. His eyes were wide. "We have to tell Allura."

 

We casually walked away together, heading for the control deck. Soon after, Shiro left the hangar and caught up to us.

 

"Hello, Shiro," Dad said, his amber eyes flashing with fear as he greeted him.

 

"Hello," Shiro responded, walking faster in order to go past us. I was going to let him go, but an idea struck me and I grabbed his sleeve. He whipped around, fire blazing in his eyes, but quickly put it out. "Pidge?"

 

"Do you remember my real name, Shiro?" I asked, hoping my voice didn't shake. Please remember, please remember. I was still on the fence about whether or not Shiro was who he said he was, but after seeing his former lion reject him, my balance was slipping.

 

"Your real name...?" His eyes betrayed his confusion... they showed recognition. He knew this was a test, and for a second, I thought I saw discomfort, even fear flicker in his gaze. "Obviously, it's Pidge. Really, trick questions?"

 

"Just... testing your memory, Shiro," I said. "The Galra could've done anything to you while you were away. Seems I was right."

 

"What?"

 

"My real name is Katie Holt," I said coolly. "I thought you knew that."

 

"Must be right then," Shiro responded, trying to hide a smirk. "My memories are a little out of wack since I returned."

 

"Oh? Well, surely, you'll remember this one," Hunk chimed in. "What do we paladins call you?"

 

"Shi...ro?" He looked down the hallway behind him. "Look, I've got to go—"

 

"Wrong, it's Space Dad," Hunk said. "Mr. Holt, why don't you try? Let's see if Shiro's memory fails him again."

 

"Okay," Dad said. "Shiro, what was the name of the mission that you and I went on?"

 

"Sam, I really don't have time for this," Shiro said, getting impatient. His bionic arm was twitching.

 

"Off you go, then," Dad said.

 

The three watched the man walk away, the man who claimed to be somebody he wasn't, and couldn't even answer simple questions.

 

He didn't even remember her name.

 

"He forgot that Matt was on that trip as well." Dad shook his head. "Some memory loss, huh? I don't think the Galra would remove that much of his memory. I don't think they're capable."

 

"That is definitely not Shiro," Hunk added. "We need to find Lance and end this before Shiro ends us."

 

 

 

 


	25. Pidge

Hunk, Dad and I agreed that we'd meet up as soon as Lance came back from his vacation at the Blade headquarters. We decided to invite Lotor to our movie night (which was the disguise for which we were putting our secret Shiro assembly under), and though he had no idea what a movie was, he agreed for the sake of our mission.

 

"Should I make popcorn?" Hunk asked. Lance called to say he was almost home— almost to the castle ship, that is— and I decided to spend the time waiting with Hunk in the kitchen.

 

"Out of what, Hunk? We don't have corn kernels," I said, setting up my laptop on a nearby countertop. While Hunk baked with weird, unidentifiable ingredients, I would spend my time figuring out where the quiznak Matt was. I had found my dad, which was great, but Matt was still missing. I had to use this break from the Shiro distraction to do something useful.

 

"Uh, you don't want to know," Hunk answered, "but it tastes good."

 

"How do you even have time to get all these exotic foods?" I asked, eyes focused on the laptop's glowing screen.

 

"I've been chatting with the locals on every ground mission we've had, ya know,  where we're rallying them up to join forces with Voltron. They're really friendly most of the time."

 

I felt suddenly guilty for missing out on talking to aliens on our trips. I usually hid somewhere with my laptop, watching from afar. "That's... cool."

 

"You know what's funny? The bi-boh-bi race's favorite food is noodles," Hunk said, chuckling to himself. He was placing some weird purple seed-looking things in an Altean equivalent to a popcorn machine.

 

"That's like, cannibalism," I said, clicking away. A few firewalls and I was into Zarkon's database. Matt wasn't there anymore. He must have escaped, but using the database could tell me when and where he escaped. "So, Matt's escaped from Zarkon's prison."

 

Hunk looked up for the first time and glanced at me. "Really? That's great."

 

"Problem is, I don't know where yet," I said. Actually, it wouldn't be that hard to find him, but I was looking for conversation. Click, click, click. "It says that Matt had disappeared over a year ago, in a solar system not far from the one we're in now. It's called Centauri Six."

 

"Oh, I remember that one," Hunk said. "We've liberated over half of that solar system since then, haven't we?"

 

"Mhmm," I said, my tongue sticking out of the corner of my mouth in concentration. "Zarkon's ship was nearby Chispa-terra, one of the planets closest to Centauri Six's sun, Tawari. So, Matt must have escaped there."

 

"I'm sure the Chispa-terrans remember him, right? He's probably one of the only humans that have ever stepped there," Hunk said. His popcorn machine whirred and beeped.

 

"Right," I said, finding a photo of the planet. "This planet is gorgeous. It looks like New York City over the entire surface! And then there are oceans where there isn't city. It almost looks like there isn't any land. Just... floating buildings."

 

"I'd kill to see that technology," Hunk muttered. "I bet there are some wicked sea creatures there, too. Maybe even more mermaids."

 

"More mermaids for Lance to hit on," I joked. I wasn't worried about him flirting with other girls anymore, not when he had me.

 

"Okay, try this out." Hunk handed me a piece of 'popcorn' to try. It was a deep blue, compared to the purple it'd been earlier.

 

Cautiously, I nibbled off of it, surprised it tasted sour. With a full mouth, I mumbled, "This tastes like skittles! Amazing, Hunk!"

 

Hunk bowed and tried one himself. "Hey, you're right!"

 

"Hey, are you guys eating all the popcorn without me?" Lance strolled through the doorway, and I leapt out of my chair to run up to him.

 

"Lance, you're back!" I hugged him as tightly as I could. "I have so much to tell you—"

 

"Nuh-uh, not until movie night, remember?" Hunk butt in.

 

I stood on my tip-toes, and kissed Lance on the lips. He blushed, glancing between Hunk and I, as if to say, I thought no one was supposed to know?

 

"I told him," I said. "He's okay."

 

He smiled his goofy smile, and before he could try and kiss me back, I headed back to my laptop. "How was your visit with Keith?"

 

His smile faded. "Oh. It was... terrible."

 

"What? How?"

 

"If our movie night is what I think it is, it can wait," Lance grumbled. "Until then, mind if I help bake?"

 

Hunk's nose wrinkled. "Uh, no, Lance, don't. Last time you baked, you set the kitchen on fire."

 

"I was only doing what you were doing!"Lance cried defensively.

 

"There is a huge difference between intentional, artistic, culinary fires and unintentional disasters!" Hunk face palmed, shaking his head.

 

I laughed to myself, taking notes on the Chispa-terrans and their culture. We'd make a visit and ask around for news on my brother after we dealt with Shiro. Which made me wonder... how exactly were we going to do that?

 

"Alright," Hunk announced. "Popcorn's done, movies have been picked, and Lotor has collected every pillow in the castle and thrown it in Lance's room."

 

"Every pillow?? That'll flood my entire room!"

 

"So be it," Hunk declared. "I'd rather not feel my butt's soreness from your hard flooring for the next week."

 

Lance sighed dramatically. "Fine," he mumbled, heading out the door into the hallway. Hunk carried his popcorn bowl with him, following the tall, lanky boy. I grabbed my laptop and various cables, about to head out when a bionic hand clamped down on my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

 

"S-shiro!" I gasped, trying not to look scared. Don't look scared, or you'll be easier prey.

 

"What's happening? Movie night?" Shiro asked.

 

"Uh, yeah," I said, trying to get past him. His grip on my shoulder was unrelenting.

 

"I'm coming, too," he said.

 

"No."

 

"What do you mean, no?" Shiro's passive expression hardened.

 

"I mean, movie night is a tradition that you've never been interested in," I said, emphasizing the word never. He had joined in once or twice before, but this Shiro didn't know that. I could say anything I wanted to, and I would have him on a leash. At least until he decided he was done stalking his prey and ready to pounce.

 

"Prince Lotor is going, isn't he?" Shiro asked.

 

"Yeah, so?"

 

"If he can break tradition, why can't I?" His voice was dangerously low, his olive eyes glinting yellow in the hallway's lighting. I could've sworn those eyes looked familiar, the ones that seemed to look back at me. They weren't Shiro's.

 

"You're over eighteen," I blurted. "Teen party only."

 

"But Lotor—"

 

"— Is a teenager in Altean years," I spat, the words rolling out of my mouth before I could stop them. "Just give up, Shiro."

 

He snarled before walking away, looking over his shoulder and growling, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Paladin. You think you're so smart?" His eyes glowed that yellow again, his cheeks bearing two familiar Altean markings. "Watch your back. The hunters will be the hunted, and I am ready to kill."


	26. Pidge

Heart racing, I ran as fast as my tiny legs could carry me to Lance's room, where the "movie night" would be held. I had to tell them everything that'd happened.

 

I banged on the door. "Lance! Let me in!"

 

Lance opened up, his ocean blue eyes wide with concern. "Pidge, what is it?"

 

I pushed past him and closed the door behind us, locking it. "It's Shiro. He threatened me."

 

Lance looked around at the other two— Lotor and Hunk. Lotor seemed tense and stiff in the relaxed environment, but Hunk was already asleep.

 

I shook Hunk awake, who mumbled something about some imbecile touching my spaghetti before waking up and glancing around the room with wide eyes. "Huh? Oh, meeting."

 

"Also, Lotor, loosen up a little," Lance said, pushing the purple prince into a pile of pillows. He sank in, his yellow and blue eyes wide in confusion.

 

"I do not understand this concept—" he began, but I picked up a nearby pillow and wacked him with it.

 

"I don't understand how you've never had a sleepover!" I said.

 

"Okay, we still have a meeting, guys," Hunk said, right as Lance had picked up a nearby pillow and was planning to completely obliterate me with it. Hunk turned on the movie as background noise, turning up the volume so that our voices could hardly be heard from outside the room should Shiro try anything.

 

"Right," Lance said, dropping his pillow in shame and sitting down next to me. "Pidge, you wanna tell us what happened?"

 

So I told them everything that had happened since Lance left; the rejection of the black lion, the failed tests, the glowing eyes, the threat. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't afraid. While I told the story, my hands started shaking.

 

Lance looked at me, worry pooling in his eyes as he took my shaking hands in his. I took that as permission to curl up on his lap, both of us sinking into the pillows around us. We didn't mind acting like this in front of Hunk and Lotor, since they were the only other members of the Plance fan club. Lance and I being the presidents, of course.

 

"So now it has come to this: kill or be killed," Lotor said somberly. "Now that you mention the eyes and markings, Pidge, I think I know exactly who is behind this."

 

"Who is it?" I asked, clenching my eyes shut as I reminisced on how Shiro's eyes flooded over with a weird yellow glow. It was like his eyes had rolled into the back if his head, the yellow dripping down into his eyes like hot wax. The Altean markings that had shown up seemed to tear his skin open like knives, leaving strange triangular open wounds on his cheeks.

 

It was horrifying.

 

"Haggar," Lotor said. "She is the only creature I know capable of cloning and bodily control."

 

"So you think this Shiro is a clone?" Lance asked, petting the back of my head gently. I didn't tell them every detail of Shiro's temporary transformation, but by the way I stuttered and choked up on my words, I must have let them know it was horrible.

 

"Yes, I do," Lotor said. "Since Shiro remembers nearly nothing about himself and the past, I think we can safely assume that this is not the real Shiro's body being taken over, like my general Narti's, but a clone used as some sick doll in his place."

 

"So a clone," Hunk said at last. "What do we do, then?"

 

"Clearly he is planning an attack on us, whether all of us at once or picking us off  one by one, we are no longer safe," Lotor said. "We must never walk these halls alone. Always carry a weapon with you. And if he does make any moves, you must not hesitate to end him."

 

Lance nodded and I gave a thumbs up in agreement. Hunk looked dissatisfied.

 

"I don't like this," he commented. "Shiro or not, this guy..."

 

"Kurōn," I spoke up.

 

"What?"

 

"It means 'clone' in Japanese," I said. "He doesn't deserve Shiro's name. We're calling him Kurōn."

 

"Okay," Hunk said, shrugging. "Kurōn it is. As I was saying, whether or not this guy is the real Shiro shouldn't give us the right to decide what to do with him. Clone or not, he is still human."

 

"Are you saying we should not get rid of him?" Lotor asked, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "He could be planning on our demise this very minute!"

 

"Yes, I know," Hunk sighed. "You said it was Haggar controlling him, correct?"

 

"That... is correct," Lotor said, as if he already knew what point Hunk was getting at.

 

"So we should be going after Haggar and not Kurōn. This clone can't control himself. His brain isn't working for itself. Haggar is his brain. Take her down, and we take away Kurōn as a threat."

 

That... was a way more logical plan. Sure, it'd take a lot more effort to defeat the old witch rather than Kurōn, but Hunk was right. Kurōn was still human.

 

"Pidge? Lance? Thoughts?" Lotor asked. He seemed to have accepted defeat, if reluctantly.

 

"I agree with Hunk," I said, sitting up and leaning back against Lance's chest. "Kurōn deserves a chance to right his wrongs."

 

"Mhmm," Lance mumbled. "I think we don't have to make the same mistake twice."

 

My heart stopped when I looked at Lotor, whose grimace had turned into a solemn frown.

 

"Lance," I whispered. "You shouldn't have..."

 

"No," Lotor interrupted. "The blue paladin is right. I would do anything to have Narti back... but instead I took the easy route out of danger and killed someone who had no control over their actions. We will follow Hunk's reasoning." He didn't say anything else for the rest of the night, just curled up into a ball and faced the television screen to watch a movie he wouldn't understand.

 

 

 

 

 


	27. Lance

“So, Lotor, what’s the plan?” I asked, stretching my arms high above my head in a final attempt to wake up. Katie was curled up beside me like a cat, burrowing into the pillows. I had long ago accepted that Lotor was the initiator of our mission. He’d give orders, and whether or not I liked the idea of him bossing us around, I would follow them.

 

“First we need to convince Princess Allura and Coran to come with us. Leaving them here will endanger them,” Lotor said, his gloomy mood from last night just a memory.

 

“We could bring them to Chispa-terra,” Katie suggested. “I’ll be heading there soon enough to look for Matt.”

 

“Good idea, Green Paladin,” Lotor said approvingly, a twinkle in his eyes. It took every last bit of strength in me to keep from strangling him for even looking at her like that. I had to tell myself, It’s okay. He’s not into her. Plus, why shouldn’t I be proud of other people admiring her?

 

“We will send them to Chispa-terra under the guise that someone needs to talk to them,” Lotor said.

 

“No, no, no...” Hunk butt in. “That’ll obviously look like a distraction. Why don’t we just send Pidge with them? They can look together and we’ll go after Haggar.”

 

“Pidge?” Lotor looked to her expectantly. “Would you be alright with that?”

 

I watched her glare at him from her pillow-cave beside me. “Fine,” she grumbled. I could tell she knew that was the most logical decision. But in her amber eyes, I saw her battling to respect Lotor’s plan. She wanted to help. But she wanted to find her brother. “I’ll take those two in the green lion.”

 

“What if we got Keith to come with us?” I asked. “He can pilot the black lion and help us fight.”

 

“I thought he wanted nothing to do with our problems,” Katie snapped.

 

“It’s... complicated,” I said, trying to defend him. “But I think once he finds we have a plan, he’ll be all in.”

 

“Alright, let’s go,” Lotor said, standing to signal our leave. We got up and each followed after him, Katie releasing my hand.

 

“I’m gonna go get my laptop from my room,” she said. “I’ll catch up in a minute!” With that, the lithe girl dashed down the hallway.

 

I missed her presence immediately, my hand clenching around itself to preserve the warmth hers gave it.

 

Following behind Lotor, I waited for Katie’s footsteps to approach. There was a strange pain in my stomach, like something was going to happen. Of course, we were fine. Everything was fine. Katie was fin—

 

“Lance!” I heard a scream from down the hallway, a shrill, high-pitched scream that could only come from Katie.

 

I spun on my heels and took my red Bayard from the inner pocket of my jacket, holding it tightly in my hand. “Pidge! I’m coming!” I turned down another hallway and nearly stopped, messing up my balance and forcing me to thrust a hand onto the nearest wall.

 

Katie was pinned to the wall, Kurōn’s bionic arm holding her up by the neck. It glowed a dangerous purple color.

 

I continued running, the Bayard in my hand transforming into a long, red Altean sword. I stopped behind Kurōn, unsure of what to do. Was I just going to stab him? Could I do that?

 

“L-lance,” Katie sputtered, her hands grabbing onto the bionic arm to relieve the pressure on her throat. “Just... do it. E-end him.”

 

Kurōn turned to me, and all resemblance of Shiro had disappeared. His eyes took on the waxy, yellow appearance and the marking-like wounds on his face glowed a deadly violet. His mouth was drawn up in a smirk. “I don’t think you can. You aren’t capable. If you kill me, you’ll be a murderer. Do you really want that? Just back away, Blue Paladin. There is no use fighting. We will win whether you like it or not.”

 

My heart was racing in my chest. I looked at Katie. Her amber eyes were pleading with me to kill him. To free her. If I didn’t, she would die. If I did, he would die.

 

I held the sword above my head and positioned myself behind Kurōn quickly, thrusting the sword down into his back. Blood spurted out of the wound, hitting me in almost a misty spray on my cheek. It was warm and smelled strongly of iron, and I had to keep myself from puking. Kurōn’s waxy eyes flashed with fear, and ultimately, surprise. His bionic arm fell limp, dropping Katie to the ground, who gasped heavily, her breathing rapid.

 

I sank to the ground after Kurōn, though at least I’d be getting back up. I felt absolutely horrible. I didn’t even feel Katie throw herself on me for a hug. I didn’t hear her telling me I was a hero. I didn’t feel her small hands wipe away the blood on my face.

 

I was a murderer.

 

We’d always taken out sentries in battle, but those were robots. Easily disposable, inhuman. But this...

 

“I’m sorry, Kurōn,” I whispered to the body in front of me. “We never gave you a chance.” This was the witch’s fault. She made me do this. She made me choose. A life for a life. I killed for Katie.

 

I hoped she would never have to do the same for me.

 

—-

 

“Lance? Can I come in?” Katie’s voice sounded muffled from the other side of the door. I burrowed further in the pillows scattered on my floor. My hair was wet from showering.

 

“Okay? I’m coming in,” she said, opening the door. She collapsed beside me. Her voice got soft as she stroked my hair and moved it out of my face. “Hey. How... how are you?”

 

“Can we just... not talk?” I croaked, my voice still sore from the torrent of tears I’d shed in the shower.

 

She nodded, pulling me closer and holding me. “I just... want to say something. Thank you, Lance. You saved my life. You’re my hero.”

 

You took initiative, Earthling. You are a true leader.

 

I bolted up from my pillow nest. I recognized that voice in my head. It was the black lion.

 

“Lance?”

 

Come. I want to show you something, paladin.

 

“It’s... it’s the black lion,” I mumbled, standing up and heading towards the hangars. “She’s speaking to me.”

 

Katie followed behind me as I entered the black lion’s hangar.

 

Welcome.

 

I gazed at the majestic creature and witnessed its dull, yellow eyes brighten at my arrival.

 

What do you want from me? I thought, hoping it’d hear me.

 

Come closer, she said, beckoning me with a low purr.

 

I stepped towards the lion, who to my surprise, bent her great big head towards me, opening her mouth to reveal the cockpit.

 

“Holy crow, Lance!” Katie called from behind me. “The black lion just chose you as her pilot!”

 

 

 

 


	28. Lance

“Wha- what? That’s impossible,” I stuttered as Katie bounced up and down excitedly beside me.

 

“Go see for yourself!” She pushed me towards the lion, which seemed to be enjoying how shocked I looked.

 

You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought.

 

But I’m not, came the mental response. I may have a sense of humor, but I never joke around.

 

Why not Keith? Or the real Shiro? I threw back. I didn’t understand.

 

Keith left me for something better, Black responded, her voice sounding hurt. And... I... I can’t feel Shiro anywhere.

 

Part of me froze as I thought about what she was implying. Could I have killed the real Shiro somehow? Was Kurōn not a clone, but the real deal? Do you mean...?

 

No, Lance, she responded, her purr sympathetic. That was Kurōn. But the Shiro I knew is somewhere in space. He’s so far away I can’t feel him.

 

So he’s still alive?

 

The lion didn’t answer. She either didn’t know or was trying to spare him the truth.

 

“Lance? You okay?” Katie snapped me out of my trance. “You’ve been staring at the lion for like, five minutes.”

 

“She was talking to me,” I answered, looking at her. “In my head.”

 

“She did that with the three of us watching Kurōn try and bond with the lion yesterday,” she said. “I wonder why she’s so... talkative?”

 

I looked at the lion sympathetically. She purred in response. “Maybe it’s because she’s so used to her paladins disappearing or leaving that she’s bonding with anyone and everyone just in case it happens again.”

 

“That’s so... sad.” Katie reached up and patted the lion’s metallic muzzle. “Don’t worry, Black. Lance won’t ever leave you, not if I can help it.”

 

“She said... she couldn’t feel Shiro,” I said suddenly. “That he was too far away.”

 

Not missing a beat, she answered, “What if he’s in a different realm?”

 

I looked at her quizzically. “A different realm? That’s... impossible, right?”

 

She shook her head, light glinting off her round owlish glasses, making her look maniacal when she smiled. “Of course it’s possible. Just hard to reach. Remember the astral plane?”

 

I nodded, not quite sure what she was getting at.

 

“Shiro’s connection with the black lion allowed him to access it,” she said, her nose wrinkled as she concentrated. She was getting somewhere... even my un-scientific brain could tell. “So... maybe he’s there!”

 

I looked at the lion for any clues. Can you confirm any of this?

 

Your girlfriend’s right. It is possible he is there, Black said.

 

Don’t you know?

 

In that battle where he disappeared, I focused all of my power into getting him out of the situation. All I know is he disappeared from the pilot seat. And I can’t contact him from here. I could hear the worry in her voice. Obviously, she was a very caring lion. Possibly the most caring. Blue had never really talked to me, and seemed to have no problem handing the torch to Red. Red had spoken to me before, but Black... she seemed the most human. She endured the most pain. Told me the most about things I wouldn’t understand.

 

You can’t contact him once he’s in the astral plane? I asked.

 

Correct. The astral plane is a dimension parallel to our own, accessible only by those with a mental connection to it. You know that Voltron was created using quintessence, which is a trans-dimensional material. Only those using quintessence have access to the astral plane. So that means the astral plane is a dimension. Communication is nearly impossible across dimensions, and when Voltron was created, it was created without that function simply because Alteans weren’t aware of other-dimensional existences. I could practically imagine Katie’s glasses sitting atop the black lion’s nose, her metallic claws pushing them up the bridge for added effect.

 

“We should go tell Allura about... Kurōn and the black lion,” Katie said, taking my hand and pulling me out of the hangar.

 

But before we reached the control deck, I heard the black lion mutter something softly, as if to herself.

 

“Oh, Allura...”

 

I shrugged it off, unconcerned with it. There was already too much information for me to process. Between Kurōn’s death being on my hands, and Shiro possibly being alive— but in a completely different dimension, and the black lion choosing me as her pilot, I didn’t dare think about anything else.

 

“Lance! You’re here,” Allura greeted me with a hug, which Katie narrowed her eyes towards. “Tell me everything. If you want, of course.”

 

I quickly relayed to her the events of the past couple days, feeling suddenly overwhelmed with it all. I thought life on earth was exciting with my short-lived career as a singer, but this... was more than I’d wanted in my entire life. If this was adventure, I wasn’t sure I wanted it.

 

Allura, Coran, and Lotor listened carefully to my story. Sam Holt walked onto the control deck soon after, followed by Hunk. Soon, everyone was there, and everyone knew the truth.

 

I killed Kurōn. We never even gave him a chance—

 

“Lance, I know what you’re thinking,” Allura said softly. “There was no other way. You did what anyone would’ve done.”

 

Hunk raised his hand. “Um, actually, I would have ran away and cowered in a corner surrounded by food.”

 

“Besides Hunk,” Allura said, rolling her eyes. “You did everything you could to keep Pidge safe.”

 

“Who will pilot the red lion then?” Lotor asked.

 

“We will have to find one.” Allura’s blue eyes lit up. I knew she’d always wanted to pilot Red since it was her father’s lion. “I assume Hunk and Pidge will not have to change lions, but maybe...?”

 

“Why don’t we all go down the hangars and see which lion is yours, Allura?” Lotor suggested. We nodded and murmured agreement.

 

This had been maybe the third time lions had changed since we’d been in space.

 

We reached Red’s hangar, where Allura froze nervously outside the door. “What if... she does not like me?”

 

“Princess Allura,” Lotor said, placing a hand on her shoulder. She reddened at the contact. “Your father will live on in Voltron no matter which lion you pilot.”

 

She smiled, placing her hand on top of his. “Thank you, Prince Lotor.”

 

“Please,” he responded, “call me Lotor.”

 

“And you,” the Altean said, “call me Allura.”

 

Katie and I exchanged looks, ready to start laughing at the absolutely cliché interactions between the two.

 

Clearing her throat, Allura blushed again and headed into the red lion’s hangar. She closed the door behind her, signaling that to her, this was a private moment. To her, it was like being alone with her father’s gravestone.

 

“Who will pilot Blue, if she gets Red?” Lotor asked.

 

“Maybe you?” Katie suggested. “We don’t exactly have anyone else except my father, and he’s planning to go back to Earth anyway.”

 

“I could go try it,” Lotor said, looking a bit lost. Maybe he felt that it wasn’t his place to decide. He felt like he still didn’t belong.

 

“I’ll come with you,” I offered. Maybe I could make him feel more comfortable if I went with him.

 

“Of course,” Lotor said. We headed towards Blue’s hangar, each silent, until he spoke quietly. “The blue lion may accept me, but will everyone else?”

 

“Lotor, we already have,” I said. “And we all know Allura has.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively towards him, at which he took a step away from me.

 

“So you think I... admire her, too?” Lotor glanced at me, the tips of his ears turning pink. “I do. But I want you to know I have left my past behind me. My affections have nothing to do with my past mistakes.”

 

I smiled. “I know. I believe you. But... just in case Keith ever comes back, you may have a problem.”

 

“Keith? The red paladin?”

 

I nodded. “Yeah. He’s got a big crush on Allura, but honestly? Who didn’t? Except maybe Hunk. He’s always liked Shay.”

 

“Does... she reciprocate those feelings?” Lotor asked.

 

“I think it’s complicated,” I answered, opening Blue’s hangar door. “We can talk about that later. But you have a lion to bond with.”

 

He smiled nervously, walking towards the lion that used to be mine. I grinned as Blue’s yellow eyes lit up in Lotor’s presence.

 

“Did... did she accept me?” Lotor called out behind him.

 

“Yep!”

 

Lotor turned and beamed, true happiness filling his eyes. “Thank you, Lance. For helping me.”

 

—-

 

“Alright, paladins!” Allura called excitedly. She’d been accepted as Red’s pilot. I hadn’t seen her stop smiling since then. “Pidge and Lance will be going to Chispa-terra to look for Matt. Hunk and Lotor will be visiting the Blade and Lotor’s generals to make alliances.”

 

“Shouldn’t I be making these decisions since I’m the leader now?” I asked smugly.

 

Allura looked unamused. “Complete this mission first and we will see.”

 

“Okay, Mom,” I muttered, much to everyone else’s amusement.

 

“Wait, does that mean Lotor is our new Space Dad?” Hunk asked, his eyes dinner-plate wide.

 

Cue another round of laughter... and profuse blushing from both Red and Blue paladins.

 

“Thank you, boys,” Allura sighed, waving us off.

 

“You’re welcome,” Hunk and I said, pausing before adding, “Mom!”

 

 

 

 

 


	29. Pidge

“Ten minutes until we approach Chispa-terra’s atmosphere,” I announced, Lance behind my piloting seat.

 

“You said that ten minutes ago!” Lance cried impatiently.

 

“No, I said— never mind,” I sighed, face palming. “We’re close. Have you pulled up any information yet on the natives?”

 

“Yep.” Lance handed me a transparent orange tablet, which displayed tall creatures with ribbon-like tendrils on the tops of their hairless heads. They had pointed ears and skin of any color. “These creatures look familiar...”

 

“You’re thinking of Ezor, one of Lotor’s generals,” I answered. “They aren’t exactly the same, though. They may have possibly descended from the same ancestors.”

 

The dashboard beeped, and I added, “Entering atmosphere.” The green lion rumbled and we flew through the air past the freeform floating of anti-gravity. Green made a nose-dive towards the planet, landing smoothly in a small space dedicated for spacecraft.

 

We exited together, hand-in-hand, and were welcomed by a gray Chispan. Lance looked at me in confusion.

 

“The older a Chispan gets, the grayer their entire body becomes,” I said, answering his stare. We’d seen many colorful ones in the guide.

 

“Welcome, paladins!” The Chispan approached us, shaking both of our hands. “My name is Hanoro, and I will be accompanying you on your visit.”

 

“Thanks Mr. Han!” Lance said, smiling wildly. “I’m Lance McClain, the pilot of the black lion, and this is my girlfriend Pidge, pilot of the green.”

 

I blushed at his openness and excitability. It’d be a miracle if we left without embarrassing ourselves. “Thank you... Han, for your hospitality.”

 

Han beckoned for us to follow after him, walking across a thin walkway that floated above deep ocean water. The water was nearly completely still, which for some reason really spooked me, causing me to cling tighter to Lance’s arm.

 

He smiled down at me, the way his eyes gazed into mine sending butterflies rushing through my stomach. “You’re not... scared. Are you, Kit-Kat?”

 

The gray of the buildings around us and the dark blue reflection of water on the glass windows made Lance’s eyes stand out so much more. His smile, every time it was directed towards me, did something to my heart. And the way he held himself, so confidently yet not arrogant. He was so frickin’ hilarious, and always knew how to make me laugh. How did I deserve someone as beautiful, as breathtaking as him?

 

“Hey, Pidgey, you good?”

 

I smiled and nodded, blinking at him as if that was anything close to communicating how much I loved him. Leaning into him as we walked, I only came up to halfway up his arms. “I was just thinking about you.”

 

His arm went around my shoulders and we walked together, following Han across the boardwalk over the water as the sun set and sent sparks across the city.

 

Chispa. It makes sense now. In Spanish, Chispa means spark, I thought, remembering when Lance was trying to teach me his own language. Funny how languages even across the universe carry similarities.

 

“Here we are,” Han said, stopping in front of a talk building. “This is where you’ll be staying for the night. I’ll be back at eight tomorrow morning to bring you to someone who will probably know what you’re looking for.” Han waved, then took off down the boardwalk, crowded with colorful Chispans walking to and fro. They didn’t seem to bat an eye at foreigners.

 

“Do we just... check in?” I asked, looking around, completely lost.

 

A younger Chispan approached us, her coloring a combination of yellow, blue, and sky blue. “Can I help you guys? I’m Sealla.”

 

“Yeah, we’re trying to get a room?” I asked. Sealla had four arms instead of two. She was a little short for the Chispans I’d seen so far, and kind of plump. She was adorable.

 

“Oh! Come in!” She didn’t wait for us and led us inside the building, gray and shiny on the outside and decorated lavishly in the inside. It was just as colorful as the people that lived on the planet. The decor reminded me of something you might see in a fortune-teller’s shack, with thick rugs scattered on the ground, candles, and curtains covered in paisley designs and tassels.

 

Sealla stood in front of a counter. “Hey, you two! Just sign in with your names and you’re good to go!”

 

“Don’t we have to pay?” Lance asked.

 

“Not at all! We’re the planet if hospitality, after all,” Sealla said joyfully.“We don’t have a currency like other planets, anyways. We’re trade-and-barterers. So in a way, I guess you pay with your talents!”

 

Lance grinned at me. “You know what that means, Katie?”

 

I felt my stomach drop. “When I said I’d let you help me sing, I didn’t mean in public like this!” Remember when I said Lance was going to embarrass us? My words were coming to pass.

 

“We love singing!” Sealla said, clapping her four hands together. “I’ll sign you up for that, then! Come to our karaoke night at eight! Which gives you... two hours to decide what you want to do.”

 

I groaned, while Lance beamed. “Pidgey, it’s going to be so much fun!”

 

I felt my nerves acting up already. I was going to be sick. “I— I can’t. I have stage fright.” The last words tapered off into a barely-audible whisper.

 

We were handed the keys to a room on the first floor, which overlooked the wide strip of water that separated our city from the next. I deposited my bag on the bed— wait, the bed. Not beds. Quiznak.

 

Two warm hands landed on my shoulders, and I let out a small squeak of surprise.

 

“Hey,” Lance said. “I’ve got our song.” He pulled out a wrinkly piece of paper with scribbled writing on it.

 

“Oh, I know this song,” I murmured. It was a cutesy love song. Innocent enough not to make me look around a room guiltily while listening to it. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

 

“It’s perfect for us,” he said. He grabbed the music and placed it on a nearby table.

 

“Lance—?”

 

“Shh,” he whispered, his finger trailing across my lips. Immediately, goosebumps found their way to the surface of my skin as he leaned in and kissed me, velvet lips meeting mine. I let out a little gasp of surprise, feeling heat tip my cheeks.

 

“I’ve been thinking...” He spoke in between kisses that touched me like butterfly wings, soft, teasing touches, and hands that found my waist. “We’ve hardly had any time for ourselves.”

 

He had to lean down to reach me, and when he pulled away for a breath, air tickled my lips and drew them up in a small smile. His forehead leaned against mine, and there we stood in the dim light of a strange hotel room, his hands trailing my back, his lips to mine. He pulled me closer to him, impossibly closer, as if our atoms could be fused and we’d be one.

 

“I love you.” His words were barely audible, but his lower-than-normal voice sent a shiver down my back. “I want everything with you.”

 

“I love you, too,” I whispered back into his chest as our almost hungry kisses turned into us swaying back and forth, dancing to the beat of our own hearts.

 

“When we go back home... to Earth... can we ever be more than we are now?”

 

I looked up to him, my amber eyes meeting his blue eyes enhanced by the dim light. “You mean...?”

 

“I want you as my... my wife,” he stuttered. “I’ve spent so much time envisioning our future together and I want it to be real. I don’t want to go back and just... forget you, Katie. I can’t forget you.”

 

I kissed him this time, my lips lingering on his cheek. “I... I want...” I was afraid to say the words back, not because I didn’t feel the same because holy crow I’ve never meant something more in my life, but because this— swaying to our own bodies’ tempos that had slowed to match, his fingers tracing the bare skin on my upper back, his eyes devouring me like it was the last he’d ever see of me. This felt like a dream too good to be true everyday. Saying those words released me from the chains of fear that’d always held me back from taking action. But I took a mental breath and whispered, “I want our future, too.”

 

—-

 

“Welcome, fellow Chispans! Have we got a show for you!” Sealla stood up on a stage in a small room littered with tables and chairs and a tiny bar in the back. Lance stood confidently, leaning against the doorpost of the entrance. I, however, was shaking. Shivering. Was it cold in here?

 

Lance bent down, removing his jacket and wrapping it around me. Then his kissed my temple. “Hey, Kit-Kat, don’t be so nervous. Just think about the song andnothing else.”

 

“Okay,” I said, trying not to whimper. “Thanks.”

 

We were summoned up on stage by Sealla. Lance took my hand and led me tenderly to the stage. He turned to me once we were on stage and whispered, “Ready?”

 

Ready as I’ll ever be, I thought. Nodding, I tried to stop my shaking hands. Lance grabbed them again, squeezing them tightly.

 

Sealla handed Lance a stringed instrument similar to a guitar and he began tuning it. He hit the first few notes and I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. But then, my curiosity to hear Lance’s voice overrode my nerves going haywire.

 

“Can you hear me? I’m talking to you across the water, across the deep blue ocean, under the open skies. Oh my baby, I’m trying.”

 

 

I was momentarily stunned by the way Lance’s voice struck my heart. His words plucked at my heartstrings, sending me almost into a spell. I smiled, probably grinning like an idiot, my eyelids drooping to add to the obviously-in-love effect.

 

The gap between his words and mine— minuscule for any observer— felt like an eternity as I finally decided screw it, I’m doing this, and put my voice out into the open.

 

“Boy, I hear you in my dreams. I hear you whisper across the deep. I keep you with me in my heart. You make it easier when life gets hard.”

 

I looked up, my face immediately turning red from the way his eyes gazed into mine and his goofy smile grew even bigger. I prepared myself for our voices clashing together like gods of the sea warring.

 

“Lucky I’m in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again.”

 

It was amazing the way our voices in fact didn’t clash, but blended together like two birds fluttering their wings in tandem in a sort of dance that belonged to the angels. There was a look of wonder on Lance’s face— how was it that I enraptured him with simply the way I sang? His voice kept me chained to him like a voluntary prisoner.

 

I started with the next verse, Lance happily taking the background. Our words created a version of us, extensions of our very being.

 

“They don’t know how long it takes, waiting fir a love like this. Every time we say goodbye, I wish we had one more kiss. I’ll wait for you. I promise you, I will... I’m—“

 

He joined in, stronger, his voice a warm rush in my veins.

 

“Lucky I’m in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again. Lucky we’re in love in every way. Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed. Lucky to be coming home someday...”

 

Happily, I dropped out of the song, listening for Lance’s solo.

 

“And so I’m sailing through the sea to an island where we’ll meet. You’ll hear the music in the air. I’ll put a flower in your hair.”

 

Right then, as I took up the next verse, Lance whipped out a purple flower and stuck it behind my ear.

 

“Though the breezes through the trees move so pretty, you’re all I see. And as the world keeps spinnin’ ‘round, you hold me right here right now.”

 

We joined again for the last verse, a repeat of the chorus I took to heart.

 

“Lucky I’m in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again. Lucky we’re in love in every way. Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed. Lucky to be coming home someday.”

 

We finished off in tandem, the silence afterwards deafening. We shared satisfied looks, my hands no longer shaking in his. The audience applauded thunderously; Lance pulled me up with him and we bowed together.

 

We walked off stage, hand in hand, towards the exit and to our shared room. We didn’t speak until the door shut behind us and we were alone again. The buzz of performing still rang in my ears and my heart still raced wildly.

 

“Katie... I didn’t know you could sing like that,” he mumbled dreamily.

 

“M-me? You’ve got the voice of an angel!”

 

“I think I’m in love with an angel,” he slurred, picking my whole four feet and ten inches of height up and holding me tight to his chest, laying back on the bed. He sighed, a trace of a smile on his face. “No... I know I am. Katie Holt, I think your greatest quality is being able to turn me on with just your voice.”

 

I blushed, sitting up on the bed and grabbing him by the shirt to pull him into me, our lips meeting in a perfect kiss. He gingerly held me, smothering me with kisses. I felt things getting a bit hot in there and cleared my throat.

 

He pulled away, still holding me. “Hmm?”

 

“I think we should go to bed,” I murmured, a little embarrassed.

 

He smirked, letting go of me. “Fine, mi amor, but you’re missing out.” He winked before giving me a peck on the cheek, gazing into my eyes amorously. “Te amo con mi corazón todo.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	30. Pidge

"So this friend of yours, Han, who are they?" I walked beside Lance, our fingers intertwined as we strolled through the floating city.

 

"I think you'd like to see for yourself," was all Han said. We passed boats sailing across the ocean, saw fish fins poke out of the water.

 

I looked at Lance with worry, mumbling, What if the Chispans are just like the Shizans?

 

He shrugged. Guess we'll find out when something happens.

 

I checked for my Bayard; check. Lance did the same, nodding his head towards me. We followed Han in silence, glancing around at the towering buildings that never seemed to end, sunlight glistening off of countless glass windows. People bustled past us, each wearing a smile. Their colors ranged from vibrant red to ghostly gray.

 

Han led us through the city, his bare feet pattering against the wooden boardwalk. Every once in a while, he glanced back to see if we were following him; satisfied with our continual presence, he'd turn back to his mission, letting out a little grunt.

 

"Only another block another block and we'll be there," Han said.

 

I sighed in relief. My short legs could hardly keep up with Han's quick legs and Lance's long strides. Surprisingly, the air I'd breathed in wasn't smoggy at all. It was fresh, which was weird in such a busy city. Maybe they had developed technology to keep out pollution? Or maybe they were just more caring for their planet than we were?

 

"Here." Han stopped in front of a tiny shack wedged in between two taller ones. "Just knock. He should be here." With that, he turned and left, his gray body scuttling quickly out of view.

 

Who should be here? I wondered. I tentatively knocked on the door, my knuckles rapping against old wood. This building certainly needed freshening up.

 

There were footsteps, then the door opened. I never expected... no, how could it be? How was he still alive?

 

"Matt!" I threw myself into hugging my brother, who wore the same look of complete shock as I did. "I can't believe we found you!"

 

"K-Katie?" He pushed me away to look at my face. "What- how did you get here?"

 

"That's a long story," I said. "But look! I'm a paladin of Voltron!"

 

He smiled, familiar amber eyes glistening with tears of joy. "Come in, come in."

 

Lance and I followed Matt into the little shack, which actually was really long.

 

"I've been living here for almost a year. This planet is amazing, Katie," Matt said, dusting off a few things with his hands as we walked through. "And uh, I've got a roommate. Sort of."

 

"Ooh, is it a girl?" I teased, already falling back into our normal sibling rhythm.

 

He blushed. "It's not like that. Yeah, she's a girl... or, more like a grown woman... but she's kind of old for me. Just... wait here, okay?"

 

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Who could he possibly have here that has him looking guilty like that?"

 

"Honerva! We've got guests!" Matt called through the houses.

 

Honerva? Where have I heard that name before? I felt a shiver run down my back, like something bad was going to happen.

 

A door opened in the back on the house, revealing a tall, old woman with her white hair tied up in a bun. Her skin was blue. Her eyes shone yellow, her pupils showing how nervous she was.

 

"This is... Honerva," Matt said, introducing his roommate.

 

"Why does she look familiar?" I asked, stepping closer. Everything looked familiar. The white hair. The blue skin. The two pink scars running down each half of her face. But it was the eyes that threw me off.

 

"You may know me as..." The woman began to speak, looking down at her feet in shame. "Haggar."

 

My eyes widened. It made sense. But how? "You're kidding, Matt?"

 

"I- I can explain, Katie," he said, trying to calm me down as I reached for my Bayard. "Please just sit."

 

"This better be good," I grumbled, taking a seat at a nearby table.

 

Matt, Honerva, and Lance all took seats. Lance reached for my hand under the table.

 

"So, about a year ago, I escaped Zarkon's prison," Matt began. "I came here and was offered this shack as a place to live in return for my technological experience. I wanted to get some sort of weapons to eventually go back for Dad."

 

"Why didn't you just help him in the first place, Matt?" I asked.

 

"He'd been moved for interrogation," Matt said. "Things had just lined up that day to help me escape. There was an attack on the ship, and right as my cell guard was opening the door to give me breakfast, he was shot down. So I took my chance and ran. I promised I'd come back for Dad, but first, I needed adequate supplies. So when I came here, to Chispa-terra, the people were very welcoming and helped me find my place immediately. I began a job of using spare parts to build things like machines and weapons. Sometimes my boss would let me keep something, and I'd use it to build weapons of my own, or a ship. Months passed, and I was finally ready. I took my ship and made my way to Zarkon's using a tracker I'd built. When I got on the ship, however, Dad wasn't there. Someone had already freed him. This was not too long ago."

 

"We have him," I said proudly. "You must've showed up after we did."

 

"Yeah," Matt said. "Guess I did. Well, anyway, I was going to break into the database to look for where and when Dad had been released, when the door behind me opened. I turned and saw Zarkon's witch, Haggar, right behind me. It turns out she'd been running from Zarkon, had had enough of the guy's abusive leadership, and tried to shut down the systems so she could escape. But instead, she found me." He glanced at the older woman next to him, who seemed to smile, if only slightly.

 

"I had to decide whether or not to take him down," Honerva continued. "In the end, I asked for his help and we worked together to shut down the ship's systems and escape to Chispa-terra."

 

"Wasn't it just days ago that I had to kill a clone you sent to our ship?" Lance snapped. I squeezed his hand, hoping to calm him down, but it only made him angrier. "Kurōn could have killed someone."

 

Honerva's small smile disappeared in seconds, replaced with a guilty frown. "Yes, I know. I regret that completely. You have to believe me when I say I've changed."

 

"Oh, that's complete bull," Lance said. "Only days ago, we were hiding from a monster in my room."

 

"Understand that I am like a slave to my husband, Zarkon," Honerva said darkly. "He has no respect for my wishes, only his own. He'd wanted a way to infiltrate Voltron from its very core. So we took your black paladin's DNA from his first session as prisoner with us and began to develop a clone. We made two prototypes— two experiments. But one of them escaped before it was ready to be released. If it had waited long enough, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the real black paladin and the fake unless you looked under a microscope."

 

"That's why his memories weren't there," I said.

 

Honerva nodded. "Yes. So Kurōn, as you call him, escaped before we were finished . Though his mission had already been programmed into him by the time he escaped."

 

"Weren't you controlling him at all when he escaped?" I asked.

 

"Only up until your... movie night," Honerva said. "Then I was hit with... a vision, or a memory I had no longer. It changed everything."

 

I leaned in closer, suddenly interested. "What?"

 

"I saw Lotor on your ship..." Her voice cracked. "I'd already seen him through the eyes of Kurōn, but seeing him again brought a memory. I looked at him and saw my son. I saw myself as a younger woman, an Altean, cradling a small baby in my arms. And I remembered... I had never seen Zarkon so happy." She quickly wiped away a tear. "It was then that I realized, I could not do this to my own son! I looked back on my life then and realized I had never truly been happy. When... when I married Zarkon, he promised us happiness. He said that taking over the galaxy and eventually the universe would make us happy. I forgot my own son because of him."

 

"Lotor... is your son?" Lance asked.

 

Honerva nodded. "Yes. Mine and Zarkon's. Though I can hardly call him a father."

 

Matt clasped his hands together. "And so after her revelation, Honerva basically put... Kurōn on 'auto-pilot'."

 

"I couldn't live with the guilt had I killed my son and his friends," Honerva explained. "So I left Kurōn to his own devices."

 

"So now that you've heard her story, will you let her help you defeat Zarkon?"


	31. Pidge

“Princess, we brought someone with us,” I spoke through the communications in my lion. Honerva, Matt, and Lance were all behind me.

 

“Your brother?” Allura asked, her face showing her obvious excitement on the screen.

 

I nodded. “Yes—“

 

“Oh, Pidge, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!” Allura smiled, her purple earrings swaying as they dangled from her pointed ears. She almost jumped up and down in celebration.

 

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “But there’s someone else, too, and I think that she can help us.”

 

Upon seeing my nervous expression, the princess’s excited grin wiped away, replaced with concern and intrigue. “Who is it?”

 

Honerva stepped into view, smiling almost shyly at Allura. Immediately, Allura balked, doing a double-take.

 

“Pidge, are you aware that—“

 

“Yes, Allura,” I said, tempted to roll my eyes. “I am aware.”

 

“How could you take that on your lion?”

 

“Excuse me?” Matt stood forward, glaring at the princess. “That is my friend and helped me escape the Galra.”

 

“You would not be there in the first place if it weren’t for her witchcraft!” Allura’s face was turning a shade of red I didn’t know Alteans could express. “First Lotor, then Kurōn, and now Haggar? Have you lost your minds?”

 

Lance stood beside me, his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him. He, too, looked a bit irate. In a stern voice I’d never heard Lance use, he said, “Princess Allura, as the leader of Voltron, I say we let Honerva join forces with us.”

 

“And as your princess—“

 

“Last I checked, I wasn’t Altean,” Lance responded, cutting her off. “The only authority you have is authority over your people. However much I respect you, I’m overruling your decision.”

 

I couldn’t hold back the grin fighting its way to the surface of my emotions. This was a side of Lance I could get used to. He was meant to be leader, to take charge, but we had just never given him the chance. Now that he had it, he was determined to make the best of it. Actually, I think that’s kind of hot. I blushed, turning to hide my face in embarrassment.

 

Allura looked completely shocked. She didn’t say anything after that, just mumbled something inaudible and hung up.

 

“Lance, that was incredible!” I set the lion on autopilot and jumped up to hug him.

 

“Wait a second...” Matt looked between us, watching the way Lance had his arms wrapped around my waist and his head leaned on top of mine. “Are you guys a thing? Does my wittle Katie Holt have a boyfriend?”

 

I blushed again, burrowing my head further into Lance’s chest.

 

Matt approached Lance and patted him on the back. “Well, I’d say that after today, I approve.”

 

—-

 

“I wanted to apologize for my... behavior,” Allura began. “Lance, you are rightfully in charge of Voltron. I should never have doubted your decision.”

 

Lance simply nodded, smiling at me. His ocean blue eyes twinkled with happiness.

 

“But now that we have both Ha— Honerva and Lotor on board of our ship, they need to prove their loyalty to Voltron,” Allura said, glancing at the two Alteans beside her.

 

“We will be happy to, Princess,” Lotor said. His generals beside him had decided to join him in the alliance with Voltron. Ezor looked as happy as always, though the two next to her shared a look of distrust.

 

“Good,” Allura said. “In order to prove your loyalty, you must both bring back the body of Zarkon.”

 

Honerva’s eyes widened. “You want us both to kill him?”

 

“He killed my entire planet and you’re asking me why I want you to end him?”

 

Honerva shook her head. “We will do it. Lotor?”

 

“I’m in,” Lotor said.

 

“What about us?” Acxa asked.

 

“Stay here,” Lotor said. “The last thing I need is to lose another general.” He turned away from us, leaving to prepare. He must’ve been trying to hide the hurt that crossed his face, but I saw it.

 

He was broken.

 

——

 

“Hey, Keith,” Lance greeted his friend as he walked into the lounge. Lance, Hunk and I were relaxing, stretching out on the couches. Keith had decided to return with Lotor after the successful meeting with the Blade and the generals.

 

The black-haired boy sat beside Lance, leaning into the back of the couch and closing his eyes.

 

“What’s up, bud?” Lance asked.

 

“I’m just— it’s good to be here again,” Keith said.

 

“Did you miss us? Huh?” Lance teased, poking him in the side.

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “Lance...”

 

Lance leaned forward dramatically, causing Keith to fall over. He glared at the Cuban boy. Meanwhile, Hunk and I were watching from a distance, trying to hold in our laughter at the antics of the boys.

 

“So, whadya doing here, anyway?” Lance asked, using Keith as a pillow. “You don’t just come back because you ‘miss’ this place.”

 

Keith blushed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blush. Today was just a day of firsts, wasn’t it?

 

“Keith’s blushing!” Lance called out, earning a shove in the face. “Ha! Who is it?” His voice lowered to a whisper, “Is it Allura?”

 

Keith turned even redder. “No.”

 

“It is!!”

 

Hunk smiled, whispering, “That’s not even a secret.”

 

I nodded beside him.

 

“You should go talk to her,” Lance suggested. “Before Lotor gets the upper hand.”

 

Keith looked a bit defeated. “Maybe you’re right...”

 

“Of course I am! I’m Loverboy Lance,” Lance declared dramatically. “I know everything about women.”

 

“Oh, puh-lease,” Keith said, rolling his eyes. “You don’t even have a girlfriend.”

 

Lance turned to me and smiled, pulling me closer. “Wanna bet?”

 

Keith’s eyes nearly popped out of his head with the way he was staring at us. He was completely shocked to say the least. “Wait, what? You and Pidge?”

 

He looked at me. “You and Lance? WHY HIM?”

 

I blushed, looking down at my lap. Lance’s long fingers held mine. “I, um... there’s a lot more to Lance than meets the eye.” I knew that was a crummy explanation, but aside from being embarrassed with the situation, I couldn’t put it in words. Why I loved Lance was just as personal as loving him. He was charismatic, helpful, caring, made me feel good about myself when I didn’t.

 

“Anyway, you need to go get your woman, Keith,” Lance interrupted. “I think she’s on the control deck.”

 

Keith nodded. “Okay. Fine.” He took a deep sigh, as if resigning to the fact that he was going to die. He stood and left the room, leaving us, the Garrison Trio, to predict what was going to happen.

 

—-

 

K E I T H

 

This is stupid, I thought, making my way to the control deck. Why am I trying to compete with Lotor?

 

Because I have... feelings for Allura.

 

I felt my heart hammering in my chest, my palms sweating. What was I going to do once I found her in the room? I could just do things the way I always did. Follow my impulses. Leave everything up to my heart.

 

I heard giggling up ahead and tensed. The doorway to the deck was cracked open. What was so funny?

 

I approached the door and peered in through the crack and felt my heart drop at the sight before me.

 

“Oh, Lotor,” Allura muttered, kissing the purple prince who held her close. She smiled, her cheeks pink with color. He was holding her waist, deepening the kiss.

 

I guess Lotor beat me to her, I thought sadly. I couldn’t bear to watch, but my eyes refused to look away. I watched in complete dismay as Lotor told her how he was completely in love with her.

 

But... aren’t I?

 

I backed away quietly, trying to keep my presence a secret. Then I ran to the nearest room, the observation deck. I crumpled against the wall, breathing heavily, my heart pounding in my head.

 

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Calm down. It’s not a big deal. Calm down. It’s not a big deal...

 

“Keith?” An unfamiliar voice snapped my eyes open. In the doorway stood the tall, giddy general.

 

I jumped up, trying to cover up the fact that I’d been panicking on the ground. “I- I was just looking at the stars.”

 

Ezor smiled, trotting beside me. “I like stars, too. Mind if I join?”

 

I shrugged. The last thing I needed was a really happy-go-lucky alien acting like a chatter box.

 

Ezor sat beside me on the ground, and for a moment, there was absolute silence. She stared out at the stars, the same unfaltering smile still plastered to her pinkish face.

 

“Don’t you ever get tired of looking at the stars?” I asked.

 

Ezor shook her head. “Nope! Do you ever get tired of wishing for a better future?” She turned to the stars again, their light twinkling in her eyes. “I know something happened. I want to help.”

 

“Why?” I asked, my voice a bit snippy, though she ignored it.

 

“We’re going to be fighting together. Rebuilding the universe as a team,” Ezor said. “I want to get to know each and every person.”

 

“Hmph,” I grunted, not satisfied with her answer. Yes, I was distrusting of the overly happy alien. I was distrusting of everyone.

 

“So...?” Ezor prodded, looking at me expectantly. “I’d love to help.”

 

“I doubt there’s anything you can do,” I muttered hopelessly. “It’s just that... I- I have feelings for someone, and she... is in love with someone else.”

 

There was silence again as she stared out at the sparkling stars. I thought she maybe didn’t hear me or gave up. “That is a predicament. Maybe... the stars are telling you that whoever she is, she isn’t right for you, or else you would have been together already.”

 

“How would the stars know anything about love?” I asked skeptically.

 

“They’ve been around so long, I’m sure they’ve seen everything,” Ezor responded. “The stars know what it’s like for others to revolve around them, or for themselves to revolve around something else. I’d say they’re experts.”

 

I felt the twitch of a smile. How could she turn the most mysterious objects in the universe into guides?

 

“See! I got you to smile,” Ezor said, grinning herself. “Now, go get some rest. I think you’ll feel better in the morning. I better go and check on Acxa and Zethrid to make sure they aren’t killing each other.” Her hand, which I hadn’t noticed was on my shoulder, lingered a moment before departing.

 

“Yeah,” I agreed.

 

“Goodnight, Keith!” Ezor said in a singsong voice.

 

“‘Night,” I mumbled back, turning to look back at the stars.

 

They brought Lance and Pidge together. Could they do the same for me?


	32. Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I’ll be writing a sequel called “Lions in the Rain”! Thank you for your support. Please comment at the end if you enjoyed this book.

"We should go on a date."

 

Katie looked up from her work. What she was working on, I had no idea. We found her dad, found her brother, what more does a girl need?

 

"A... date? In space?" She raised an eyebrow, speaking with a screw poking out of the corner of her lips.

 

"Yeah," I said, leaning back on her bed. "We haven't had one yet."

 

That was true: we'd been so busy with Shiro, Lotor, Honerva, finding people in space, fighting battles. It'd been who-knows-how-long since we called ourselves a couple, and yet, we hadn't really done anything romantic. Except make out, of course.

 

"Well, aren't Honerva and Lotor leaving to capture Zarkon soon?"

 

"Yeah, so?" I yawned dramatically, grabbing a picture off of Katie's nightstand. I'd seen it a hundred times, the one with her and Matt and the entire Holt family. It was a small piece of earth, even if it wasn't mine.

 

"Don't you think we should stay here just in case something happens? Or they need backup?" She tried to put on a cool appearance. But I saw through her façade. She was nervous.

 

I jumped up, putting the picture back in its place, and wrapped my arms around the small girl. "What's wrong, Pidgey?"

 

"W-what? Nothing," she stammered. "I just think it's a bad idea to leave when we're so vulnerable."

 

"Katie, everything's fine," I said, trying to sooth her. "We deserve some time off, don't you think?"

 

She sighed. "You're right. I'm just nervous. Things haven't quite been... calm... for a while. Ever since I was taken back on Shiza, it's like I've been constantly waiting for something bad to happen."

 

I kissed her on the forehead. "Well, don't worry, cariña. I'll keep you safe."

 

She smiled, leaning into me. "Okay. Let's go on a space date."

 

—-

 

"So what's your big idea, Lance?" Katie shifted her seat on my lap again, trying to get comfortable in the black lion. I refused to tell her where we were going. It was going to knock her socks off when she saw it.

 

"Mm, not telling," I said, smiling. The lion rumbled in the back of my mind, Don't worry. I know she'll love it.

 

"Aw, c'mon, Lance," she begged. "Please?? I don't really like surprises."

 

I smiled at her, unrelenting. "Hmm, I don't know..."

 

Her eyes lit up. "I'll do anything to know."

 

My smile turned into a smirk. "Anything, you say?"

 

She nodded, then hesitated, and began feigning fear.

 

"You've gotta kiss me if you want me to—" I was cut off by Katie, who had already beat me to it, and had her hands around my neck. I let out a little sound of satisfaction. She pulled away, dreamily gazing into my eyes before whispering, "So...?"

 

I smiled, a big Cheshire grin taking over my face as I said in a singsong voice, "I'm still not telling you~!"

 

She smacked me on the arm. "Lance! I just kissed you for that!"

 

"Katie, you would've kissed me anyway."

 

She blushed. "Whatever. Are we there yet?"

 

I repeated her in a high-pitched voice worthy of my nieces— "Are we there yet?"

 

"Well, are we?" Katie pressed again.

 

I sighed. "Yes, we're almost there, love." I landed on the planet of our rendezvous and grabbed the blindfold nearby. "Close your eyes. We're here."

 

"Are you blindfolding me?"

 

"Yep!" I said cheerfully, coming behind her and tying the cloth around her head after removing her glasses. I hooked the glasses on her shirt and placed my hands on her shoulders, preparing to guide her. We made it outside the black lion, who seemed to be purring in the back of my mind.

 

"Lance—!" Katie tripped forward, but I grabbed her waist and pulled her into me.

 

"S-sorry! There must've been a rock there," I said, sheepishly.

 

"Well, you feel good, so I can't complain." Her lips turned up in a smile.

 

The sky outside was dark and scattered with stars and a single white moon like our own. Trees towered over us, their branches woven with fairy lights that made a soft yellow glow. A slight breeze rushed by, and I almost closed my eyes at the sound of a waterfall nearby.

 

"Is that... water?" Katie asked.

 

"Shh," I said, placing a finger to her lips. "Just wait."

 

I finally took off her blindfold, and she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

 

"Oh, Lance, this is so... beautiful!" She turned to me, beaming. I could see the fairy lights sparkling in her amber eyes. She looked around again, her hand in mine, and took in the view of the waterfall that spilled over a stunning, lushly foliated cliff. A pool gathered beneath it, the white moon showing clear on the ripples of the water. Surround the pool were large, flat stones. On one of them was a tiny table set up with two chairs, a tiny lantern and plates decorating the center. With the low lighting and the water sounding like music, it looked like something straight out of Paris.

 

"Well, I wanted something special, and this..." I gestured with my hands, "reminds me so much of Earth. I thought you'd appreciate it."

 

"Apprecia— Lance, I could kiss you right now," she said, grinning at me.

 

"Well, we have a busy night, but I'm sure we can fit that into the schedule," I said, adding a wink. "Come on, I'm starving!"

 

She took her seat and I helped her in, sitting in my own. As we began to eat the strange alien food, she studied me from her place in front of me.

 

"How did you do all this?" she asked. A light blush dusted her cheeks. "This planet is so much like our own! And the moon!" I thought I saw a tear in her eye, but she laughed softly. "It reminds me so much of our own. But the craters are different. And I think..." She squinted. "...Yep. It's a slightly darker shade of gray."

 

"Of course, Hunk helped with the food," I answered, taking a bite. "But remember when I was sent a couple days ago on that mission to collect extra teladuv supplies? Once I was finished, I came here and set it up with Hunk's help."

 

"Thank you," she said. "For all of this. For everything. It's wonderful."

 

"I'm so glad you like it," I said. "You mean so much to me, and I felt like I haven't been able to show you properly."

 

"I agree," Katie said quietly. "It's like... with this war going on, there's hardly enough time for peace."

 

She closed her eyes for a moment, chewing on a piece of food. "Is this... peanut butter?"

 

"Do you like it...?"

 

"Holy crow! This is..." Her voice calmed and she looked at me with so much love I never imagined for me. "...Amazing. Lance, you are the most amazing boyfriend anyone could ask for and I... I don't deserve you. You're too good to me." She was smiling. "How... did Hunk make peanut butter?"

 

"Actually, I helped," I said proudly. "I went through your stuff when you weren't looking and—"

 

"Lance!"

 

"I found a peanut in your book-bag," I finished. "Hunk said that he could take it to Allura's lab and study it to see exactly what was in it and make something similar... like, recreate a peanut. So he made up a batch of the peanuts— synthetic ones, of course— and I made the peanut butter myself."

 

She had finished her plate and was now leaning her chin on her hand and was gazing at me. "That was really smart, Lance. I don't think even I could've thought of that."

 

I blushed, a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, well," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Hey, since you're finished..." I held out my hand towards her. "Do you wanna dance?"

 

She nodded, and took my hand, sending electricity through me like tidal waves.

 

"And maybe... when we're done dancing, we could go skinny dipping by the waterfall...?" I teased, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

 

Cue cute Pigeon blushing. "Lance, no!"

 

"Aww, won't you at least swim with me, though?" I begged, giving her my best puppy eyes. She quickly succumbed under my stare.

 

"Fine, but all clothing remains on," she said, snickering. As we danced, swaying in a circle to the tempo of the waterfall and the light of twinkling fairy lights above us, I had a thought that made me smile and lean my head against Katie's.

 

Even in the midst of war, we still found love. And now that I've found it in you, Katie, I'll never let it go. I'd search the whole universe for you, I'd go across the stars for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
